Game and Bleach
by Astroman1000
Summary: One day Ichigo wakes up to discover his life has been turned into a video game. Let's see how this crass punk of a kid deals with monsters that he could never have dreamed of existing knocking down his door to eat him. Oh and maybe a harem? (I've got a problem) I promise you if nothing else this story will be wild ride.
1. It's Time to Play

**AN: For those of you that are here because you read my other stuff… I'M SORRY! I'm a guy who writes when inspiration hits and this story really needs to get out of my head. As for progress in my other stories… Goku the Gamer is the most planned out for sure. I know a lot of what i want to do there. A Fox's Touch and King of the Pit noticeably less so. My biggest blockade being that I don't have a beta or an editor and I feel my work can be subpar without them and I still want to make some changes. Know I'll never be forgetting any of my fics. I just might be a long while before they get updated. This fic included new readers, I'm sorry.**

 **And don't be salty that this is a gamer fic and I already have one of those, I know I do. I plan on making the systems different, but not to the point that I have no fucking clue what I'm doing in either of them.**

 **Ultimately this is a Bleach fic and I hope you guys, readers old and new, enjoy what I do with the story. I put a lot, A LOT, of time and effort into research so that I can stay true to a character's personality. This is mostly so that I can change it in meaningful and reasonable ways. I will admit, my knowledge of Bleach is not nearly as vast as my knowledge of Naruto or Dragonball, so please! If shit don't seem right tell me so that I may correct it.**

 **OH! THIS STORY STARTS OFF SEVERAL MONTHS BEFORE CANON. For specifics I'm pretty sure the time-skip is only 17 months during which Ichigo goes from 15 to 17. Since his birthday is July 15th I'll be saying this story starts in october~ish.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I make profit off of the Bleach series. Please support the official release.**

~GB~

Chapter 1: It's Time to Play!

Ichigo Kurosaki woke up one crisp October morning expecting a completely ordinary day, or at least, as ordinary as you can get when you can see ghosts and are constantly fighting with local gangsters. Unfortunately for him Ichigo's normally extraordinary life was about to flipped on it's pretty little head.

 **You've had a full and restful sleep in your bed. Your HP and RK have been restored to full.**

The bright, light blue screen held Ichigo's gaze for a full five minutes before he slowly closed his eyes and counted to ten.

'I'm dreaming.' He thought. 'I'm going to open my eyes and this pop-up is going to go away.'

Sadly, the screen did not go away. It simply floated a few feet in front of him, seemingly taunting his with its very existence.

'This is some bullshit… I get the whole "you are what you eat" saying, but I do not play nearly enough video games for my life to BECOME ONE!' Already frustrated by the seemingly impossible situation he woke up to, Ichigo mentally dismissed the screen. To his surprise, it worked.

Like a bucket of ice water the reality of the situation crashed into Ichigo. "Oh sweet Kami this is real isn't it?" He did not expect the blue screen appeared.

 **You bet your sweet ass it is.**

Ichigo was stunned. There were no words to describe how disturbed he was by the fact that he got an actual answer from the… whatever it is. 'Oh who am I joking? This is a game, my life's become a game.'

 **It has. Would like like to look through the tutorial?**

Defeated and just a little bit scared Ichigo simply nodded his head in acceptance. A new, much larger screen then appeared in place of the other.

 **Hello Player and Welcome to The Game! Ver. 3.6.1**

 **This is the tutorial, here you'll learn the very basics of the game so that you don't die immediately! Here we have the contents page, please select a topic that interests you!**

 **The Menu**

 **Player Statistics and Utility Bars**

 **Combat and Abilities**

 **NPC Interactions**

 **Dungeons**

 **(maybe some more?)**

Ichigo wasn't a stereotype, particularly if you judge him by his looks and circumstances, but like many he wasn't the type to give two shits about a tutorial. "Bah, I don't need this! Imma just go out and find some mobs-" He looked at the alarm clock that woke him up, "after school and feel shit out." But before he could dismiss the screen another, smaller one appeared in front of it.

 **LISTEN KUROSAKI! THERE IS A REASON THIS IS VERSION 3.6.1 OKAY? THE GAME IS NOW PAUSED, TIME WILL NOT PASS, YOU WILL BE READING MOST IF NOT ALL OF THIS TUTORIAL.**

Ichigo blinked. "Well, damn… okay. Tell me about the menu."

 **~The Menu~**

 **By simply calling for the menu it will appear before you. From it you can access your character page, abilities page, relationship page, inventory, quest log, and the options. The appearance of the menu will be as follows: On the left side of the screen, spread evenly from top to middle, Character, Inventory, Quests, Abilities, Relationships, and Options will be displayed. In the center of the screen the player's title, name, and class will be displayed. Slightly below that a health bar, colored red, and a reiryoku bar, colored blue, will be displayed with numerical values placed directly above it (HP at the moment)/(Total HP). Just below the bars the date and time will be displayed and finally, the player's available currency will be displayed. On the right side of the screen a model of the player will be shown (with current armor) taking up most of the screen and at the very top the player's total armor value will be displayed by a small shield. Along the bottom of the screen a green bar representing experience will be shown split into tenths. (Total XP)/(XP required to level up) will be displayed above it.**

 **(IF YOU ARE LOST JUST GOOGLE KOA RECKONING MENU AND CHANGE SOME OF THE DETAILS)**

 **~Character Page~**

 **The initial character page shows the player their statistics and yours looks like this:**

 **Title: The Gamer**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 8**

 **HP: 160/160 [Vit*20] [Red Bar]**

 **RK: 2,200/2,200 [(Vit+Wis)*20] [Blue Bar]**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 8**

 **Vit: 8**

 **Dex: 8**

 **Int: 6**

 **Wis: 3**

 **Luck: 4**

 **Charm: 3**

 **Active Quest: Tutorial Time!**

 **Summary: Ichigo Kurosaki lost his mother at the tender age of nine when he tried to save what he thought was a suicidal young girl. He still doesn't know exactly what happened, but since then he became a very brusque young man. Due to his unique orange hair color he often fights with local thugs and is assumed to be a delinquent, while in reality he is quite studious. He has dedicated his life to protecting those he cares about and those in need. Oh, and he can see ghosts too.**

 **XP: 300/1,200 [Green Bar]**

 **That was the statistics tab. On the left side of the screen several other tabs could be found below the statistics tab. They are: Buffs/Debuffs, Titles, and Perks.**

 **At the moment you have no Buff or Debuffs. Buffs and Debuffs are almost always temporary and if you have more than one they will be ranked, from top to bottom by severity. Buffs are on top of the Debuffs, if the list grows too long you will be able to scroll.**

 **You have two titles at the moment. The currently selected tab will be emphasized from the others take up a small amount of space on the left side of the screen. Your titles tab looks like this:**

 **Titles:**

 **The Gamer**

 **Congratulations your life is a game which is pretty damn awesome.**

 **Acquisition of this title gives the player the special perks [Gamer's Mind] and [Gamer's Body]. Equipping this title gives no extra benefit.**

 **The Protector**

 **Your life is one dedicated to making sure those around you can be safe and protected be they family, friend, or stranger.**

 **When equipped the player has 50% increased relationship gains with those above level 2 familiarity.**

 **If equipped during combat all stats are multiplied by the number of people they intend on protecting plus one.**

 **If equipped during combat all allies within 50 feet of the player that are above level three familiarity will have their morale doubled.**

'Wow… I'm equipping the protector right now.'

 **Titles can be gained in a myriad of ways from quests to special events, they usually have positives benefits for the player, but only one title can be equipped at a time.**

 **Perks are essentially permanent Buffs, they will be separated by normal Perks, and Special Perks. If the list grows too long you will be able to scroll.**

 **Perks**

 **Thug**

 **You walk the walk and talk the talk and everyone agrees: you'se a thug.**

 **+20% damage to humans**

 **-50% reputation gains with humans**

 **Studious Student**

 **You spend long hours every day studying and doing school work and your dedication shows positive results.**

 **+25% experience while learning from books or in a classroom**

 **I see dead people**

 **You can see dead people and maybe something more…**

 **Debuffs**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Special Perks**

 **Gamer's Mind**

 **Your playing a game so you've got to think like a gamer.**

 **Immune to all psychological effects**

 **Ability to repress emotions once they become overwhelming**

 **Gamer's Body**

 **Fuck stamina bars this ain't Dark Souls! You're a video game character now.**

 **No fatigue**

 **Body damage (scars, obesity, etc.) don't happen except in special circumstances**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Much like titles perks can be gained from a myriad of situations such as quest rewards, special actions or events, and defeating certain enemies.**

 **That's all for the character page, specific information can be discovered by simply asking.**

"Hey, uhh… what's with the question marks?"

 **Question marks denote information that player needs to learn before they have access to it. Do not fret, all benefits are provided.**

"I guess I can live with that… lets see the Inventory."

 **~Inventory Page~**

 **The inventory is your typical inventory, just a bunch of empty boxes. It can be sorted at the player's will.**

 **Character equip can be requested, at which point all equippable armor will be available and a player model with space denoting where armor can be placed will appear.**

 **~Quest Page~**

 **The quest page will have expandable tabs on the left side of the screen. The tabs will be Main, Faction, Side, Tasks, and Complete. Upon selecting one of the tebs it will expand showing all quests of that type that you have yet to complete (excluding Complete of course). The majority of the screen will be dominated by the quest description which includes Quest Giver, Location, Summary, Potential Rewards, and Mystery Bonuses. Other descriptors such as Specifications, Restrictions, and Time Limits will only appear when necessary.**

 **Quests can be given in all sorts of ways from divine intervention, to finding an old note on the ground, to prompts from NPCs, and even quests you put upon yourself. Always be on the lookout because quests can only benefit you… 99% percent of the time.**

 **~Abilities Page~**

 **From inane abilities such as cooking and reading comprehension to life-saving skills such as blink and healing all of your abilities can be found here. Specific abilities can be requested so an in depth view can be given, put normally this page will function with simple pull down tabs. Pressing Combat and then Passive will show you all of your passive combat abilities and so on and so forth.**

 **Combat**

 **Active**

 **NA**

 **Passive**

 **Intermediate Karate Lv: 45**

 **Many years you have trained in the art of self defense and your enemies have every right to cower in fear. You're not quite a master, but your no novice either.**

 **+45% damage while using hand to hand**

 **Intermediate Backstreet Brawler Lv: 32**

 **You're quite familiar with tussling while in the backstreets and use every part of your body as a weapon. There is no honor in this.**

 **+32% damage while using hand to hand**

 **+3% chance to critical hit while using hand to hand**

 **Intimidating Presence Lv: 6**

 **Your reputation precedes you and your toned physique is nothing to laugh at. Most civilians instinctively cross the street when you're near.**

 **3% chance for enemies to flee from combat**

 **-6% rep gains with civilians**

 **Utility**

 **Active**

 **NA**

 **Passive**

 **? Lv: ?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Abilities can be gained in a myriad of ways be it you learn them from an instructor, it was something you were born with, a quest reward, and even random events from special actions. Abilities are critical to your day to day survival so always try to get more, but never forget: Feared is the man who has practiced a single move a thousand times than the man who has practiced a thousand moves once.**

 **~Relationships~**

 **The relationship page is organized in a simple manner, those with the highest relationships with the player are on top while the the lowest are at the bottom. There is a separate tab for area relationships as well as faction relationships.**

 **Characters**

 **Karin Kurosaki Lv: 5**

 **Yuzu Kurosaki Lv: 5**

 **Isshin Kurosaki Lv: 5**

 **Sado "Chad" Yasutora Lv: 4**

 **Tatsuki Arisawa Lv: 4**

 **Orihime Inoue Lv: 4**

 **Keigo Asano Lv: 3**

 **Mizuiro Kojima Lv: 3**

 **Places**

 **Karakura Town Lv: 1**

 **Karakura Town High Lv: 1**

 **Factions**

 **Karakura Town Gangs Lv: -3**

 **Relationships are important since they can affect everything from teamwork to potential quests. Relationship rankings are pretty straightforward ranging from levels -5 to 5. A character that the player as a relationship of -5 with will always attack on sight and seek to murder you. Adversely a character with whom the player has a level 5 relationship will never be antagonistic to the player even under threat of death. Relationships also encompass general reputation with an area, for example, Karakura town. If the player were to have a -5 relationship with any area they will be hunted down and either killed or thrown out by the locals while a level 5 relationship may cause the player to be paraded about on a palanquin. This also affects vendor prices.**

 **~Options~**

 **This may be a game, but it's also real life, as such options are extremely limited. The only things you can change are the color of the screens and switch about some of the organizational specifics of the menus.**

"Argh! This is taking forever! Listen game, I'm going to to school, I promise I won't fight people until I finish looking through this okay?"

 **Fine, the game has now been resumed.**

Ichigo breathed a deep sigh of relief. There was seriously way too much information to take in. "Finally!"

A quick jump off of his bed and some desperate undulations later Ichigo was dressed in his uniform and ready to go.

 **Through a special action you've earned the ability [Fast Equip].**

 **[Passive Utility] Fast Equip lv. 1**

 **Nothing special really, you are now able to get dressed a little bit quicker.**

 **+1% increase to equip speed**

"What? That's… good? Maybe I can just get a bunch of abilities for doing normal stuff… huh."

Dismissing the text boxes Ichigo ran downstairs, devoured some of Yuzu's breakfast, dodged a flying tackle from his old man and got onto the road.

"Ugh finally, one day I swear I'm going to end up killing that old man."

 **Through a special action you've earned the ability [Dodge!]**

 **[Passive Combat] Dodge lv. 24**

 **It's all about timing because if you can dodge a car you can dodge a giant monster who wants to devour your soul!**

 **Chance to dodge an attack: (Your Dex - Opp. Dex + 24)%**

"Argh I said leave me alone! Actually… Game. Unless it's vitality important keep a log of the abilities I gain for the next… let's say day. And then let me see them before I go to bed. Can you do that?"

 **Yes**

"Awesome." A quick scan of his surroundings revealed no more blue text boxes letting a very relieved Ichigo to go to school in peace.

~GB~

Unfortunately for Ichigo peace was the last thing he was going to get today. Not even five minutes away from school Ichigo found himself surrounded in the alleyway he usually cuts through while traveling to and from school form his house. Four thugs, no doubt looking for some revenge from the last time he beat their asses had lain in wait for the perfect moment, which was apparently now.

"Oh c'mon. I don't have time for this bullshit! I promised the Game I wouldn't fight yet!"

A gangly teen, probably around eighteen years old, wearing a bandana, a wife beater, and an absolutely ridiculous bleached white afro took a step toward Ichigo.

"Pssh, I don't who da hell Game is but we'se is gonna whoop yo' ass right here, right now, ya strawberry ass lookin' muthafucka'.

"Oh christ." A quick look at the HP bars above their heads revealed that the fight wasn't going to be as easy as he hoped.

 **Gang Leader**

 **Ishio Ieyoshi Lv. 11**

 **[400/400]**

 **Gang Lieutenant**

 **Kawachi Magbei Lv. 10**

 **[400/400]**

 **Gang Member**

 **Yoshizaki Makoto Lv. 8**

 **[300/300]**

 **Gang Member**

 **Masuko Ikku Lv. 8**

 **[300/300]**

 **Special Encounter Initiated!**

 **For being an entire gang the Aura [Strength in Numbers] has been activated. All enemy damage will be doubled. There is also a chance for gang members to revived their downed teammates if given enough time.**

Annoyance quickly became horror as Ichigo realized that there was a very real chance he would lose this fight. "That's… no… what the fuck."

Then Ishio cackled in glee at the face Ichigo was making, "Hahaha, you get it now dontcha? We've gotten a lot stronger since the last time we fought and this time you don't have your little Mexican boyfriend to save yo ass. Yo ass is dead!" Unwilling to wait any longer Ishio charged our intrepid hero.

With nowhere to hide Ichigo had to go in. Luckily Gamer's Mind was in full force.

"Don't make laugh." Ichigo dodged the wild swing by ducking under inward. A devastating punch brought the fight to a standstill. **Critical!** "You might be stronger, but I've been fighting for a long time. You're still wimps to me!"

Before his assailant could recover from getting the breath knocked out of him Ichigo kicked the back of his knee sending him to the ground. "Don't fuck with me." He punctuated his statement by brutally kicking Ishio in the face… repeatedly… until he stopped moving.

 **Gang Leader**

 **Ishio Ieyoshi Lv. 11**

 **[0/400]**

 **For the defeating their leader so soundly the Aura [Strength in Numbers] has been broken.**

 **No he's not dead, for living enemies you will be presenting the option to kill them once their health has reached 0.**

 **Do you wish to kill [Ishio Ieyoshi] ?**

 **[Y/N]**

"Oh shit! Hell no!"

Ichigo hated the constant interruptions to his life that the various gangs and thugs of Karakura Town caused. But he could never wish death upon them. Unfortunately for Ichigo the lieutenant took his distraction as the perfect opportunity to lay him out.

"Don't fuck around bitch, just because the boss is out for the count don't we are right boys?"

 **-30 HP**

 **Due to the rousing speech the Aura [Strength in Numbers] has been reactivated.**

Encouraged by Kawachi's success Yoshizaki and Masako went in to get their own pound of flesh. This time Ichigo was ready.

 **Successful Dodge!**

 **Successful Dodge!**

Taking the opportunity Ichigo tripped one of the level eight fools and ran further down the alleyway to a group of trash cans. He then grabbed two lids to use as weapons.

"Bring it fools."

"Grrr, Yoshi! Let's get this guy. Masuko! Wake the boss up!"

"Well that's no good." Ichigo muttered. Realizing he could not play to defensively Ichigo rushed into the level eight and level ten, surprising them enough to knock the wind out of them.

 **Gang Lieutenant**

 **Kawachi Magbei Lv. 10**

 **[358/400]**

 **Gang Member**

 **Yoshizaki Makoto Lv. 8**

 **[258/300]**

He then rushed the ignorant level eight knocking him out with a heavy blow to the temple.

 **Gang Member**

 **Masuko Ikku Lv. 8**

 **[125/300]**

 **[Unconscious]**

Turning around quickly Ichigo was dismayed to find out he hadn't been quick enough for he took a glancing blow from the lieutenant to head.

 **-25 HP 125**

Luckily for him he didn't lose his footing and was able to retaliate with a kick to Kawachi's right knee. A brutal crunching sound could be heard right before Kawachi screamed and crumpled to the ground. **Debilitating Strike**

 **Gang Lieutenant**

 **Kawachi Magbei Lv. 10**

 **[137/400]**

"You FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" A certain madness could be seen within the lieutenants eyes.

 **Berserker Rage has been activated by enemy Kawachi Magbei.**

A red aura flared to life around him as he stood up in spite of his badly broken knee. "YOU'RE DEAD!

The alarm bells in Ichigo's head were nigh deafening as he immediately turned to run away, only to be stopped by the last level eight standing. But ever the optimist Ichigo grabbed the very confused teen and put him into a headlock to use as a human shield.

Yoshizaki quickly proved his uselessness as Kawachi simply decked his underling across the jaw, clearly breaking it and knocking him unconscious.

 **Gang Member**

 **Yoshizaki Makoto Lv. 8**

 **[0/300]**

 **Only one member remains conscious thus Aura [Strength in Numbers] has been broken.**

Dropping the limp body Ichigo desperately backpedaled away from the clearly overpowered monster of lieutenant.

"YO ASS IS MINE! GET OVER HERE!" In an inhuman display of strength and tenacity Kawachi jumped far enough to land on Ichigo, but Ichigo rolled to the left just in the knick of time.

"ARGH!" He didn't go down, but Kawachi was definitely staggered by the damage he was causing to his broken knee.

In that moment Ichigo knew what he had to do. He felt bad for it honestly, absolutely vile, but if he was going to survive this encounter he had to. Without standing, Ichigo twisted his body around and kicked Kawachi's already broken knee inward. The leg crumpled to the ground, now at a ninety degree angle… sideways. The sound that came out of Kawachi's mouth… Ichigo knew he'd never forget it. The lieutenant screamed for an entire minute before the red aura disappeared and Kawachi crumpled, unmoving.

 **Gang Lieutenant**

 **Kawachi Magbei Lv. 10**

 **[0/400]**

It took Ichigo a good minute to finally recollect himself and stand back up. He had been in a ton of fights, far too many given his tender age of 15, but never had a fight ended in such a… disturbed fashion. A necessarily short look at the level eight he used as a shield revealed that Kawachi had not only broken his jaw, but shattered it completely. It looked less like a jaw and more like a sack of skin and teeth just laying on his throat. It was quite obvious he needed to be rushed to a hospital. But it was then that Ichigo realized he still hadn't gained any reward from the fight. Surveying the alley the possible answer left Ichigo with a sick feeling in his stomach, at least, sicker than he already felt.

 **Gang Member**

 **Masuko Ikku Lv. 8**

 **[125/300]**

 **[Unconscious]**

Accepting the inevitable Ichigo walked over to the downed youth. Looking at him, he was definitely the youngest of the group by far, probably his own age or younger. Closing his eyes he set to work.

 **Gang Member**

 **Masuko Ikku Lv. 8**

 **[104/300]**

 **[Unconscious]**

 **Gang Member**

 **Masuko Ikku Lv. 8**

 **[83/300]**

 **[Unconscious]**

 **Gang Member**

 **Masuko Ikku Lv. 8**

 **[62/300]**

 **[Unconscious]**

 **Gang Member**

 **Masuko Ikku Lv. 8**

 **[41/300]**

"Gah!" Disappointed at his awakening Ichigo steeled himself and kicked the kid's head. **Critical**

 **Gang Member**

 **Masuko Ikku Lv. 8**

 **[0/300]**

He then turned around and used the wall to support himself as he barfed.

 **Congratulations**!

 **Do you wish to end the lives of your opponents?**

 **[Y/N]**

"Fuck off! You know I don't. Fuck… Just…" What little strength he had left failed him as he slumped against the wall. In all of his life he had never been as tired as he was right now. Maybe a quick nap would help…

~GB~

 **Congratulations!**

 **You have completed the tutorial! That in conjunction with your unexpected victory has granted you absolutely massive rewards!**

 **Quest Tutorial Time Complete**

 **Objectives: Read Player Walkthrough, Fight in Dummy Battle**

 **Bonus Objectives: NA**

 _ **Secret Objectives: Fight Hard Mode Tutorial Battle**_

 **Rewards: Basic Katana, Hado #1: Sho, 1,000 Exp**

 **Bonus Rewards: NA**

 _ **Secret Reward: 15,000 Exp, Asauchi**_

"Really? Is that really how you're going to play this?" Unfortunately for Ichigo's depressing, introspective slump Gamer's Body was kicking in and he already felt good enough to finally get to school. "Ugh… fine. The fuck's an Asauchi anyway?"

When no answer came Ichigo begrudgingly opened up his inventory and selected the Asauchi looking for it's item description.

 **Asauchi Lvl. 1/?**

 **Description:?**

 **Damage: 1 + Dex*1**

 **Req: ?**

"What the hell? This was a secret reward! Why is it so shitty? I bet it's something dumb like it has infinite levels or a really high level cap and it ends up out-scaling everything else. I guess I can dig that. What's the Katana looking like?"

 **Basic Katana Lvl. 1/10**

 **Description: A completely normal katana of above average make.**

 **Durability: 40/40**

 **Damage: 20+Dex*2**

 **Req: Str-10 Dex-16**

"Hmm… well… what's the Katana really looking like. Equip Katana in primary weapon slot and Asauchi in the other one." In an almost unnoticeable flash of light the two weapons appeared on Ichigo's hips, the Katana on the left and the Asauchi on the right. "Alright!" Drawing them both to compare he found that they were exactly the same length at around 65 cm. Then a blue screen appeared.

 **Warning**

 **Due to not meeting the stat requirements to wield the [Basic Katana], its damage has been reduced by 70%**

"Dammit. At least that's an easy fix. Stats."

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 15**

 **HP: 160/160 [Vit*20]**

 **RK: 2,200/2,200 [(Vit+Wis)*20]**

 **Stats: 35**

 **Str: 8 +**

 **Vit: 8 +**

 **Dex: 8 +**

 **Int: 6 +**

 **Wis: 3 +**

 **Luck: 4 +**

 **Charm: 3 +**

 **XP: 700/4,200**

"If this fucked up fight showed me anything it's that I'm going to need to be able to take some hits so…"

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 15**

 **HP: 160/160 [Vit*20]**

 **RK: 2,200/2,200 [(Vit+Wis)*20]**

 **Stats: 13**

 **Str: - 10 +**

 **Vit: - 20 +**

 **Dex: - 16 +**

 **Int: 6 +**

 **Wis: 3 +**

 **Luck: 4 +**

 **Charm: 3 +**

 **XP: 700/4,200**

"And what the hell, my other stats are way too low. I'm much wiser than a _three_." Thought the fifteen year old high schooler.

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 15**

 **HP: 160/160 [Vit*20]**

 **RK: 2,200/2,200 [(Vit+Wis)*20]**

 **Stats: 0**

 **Str: - 10**

 **Vit: - 20**

 **Dex: - 16**

 **Int: - 10**

 **Wis: - 10**

 **Luck: 4**

 **Charm: - 5**

 **XP: 700/4,200**

 **Have you completed your level up?**

 **[Y/N]**

"That looks good. Yes."

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 15**

 **HP: 400/400 [Vit*20]**

 **RK: 6,000/6,000 [(Vit+Wis)*20]{*10}**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 10**

 **Vit: 20**

 **Dex: 16**

 **Int: 10**

 **Wis: 10**

 **Luck: 4**

 **Charm: 5**

 **XP: 700/4,200**

"Now, NOW I can finally get to class." Poking his head out to survey the street Ichigo saw nothing to indicate someone had watched his fight. But walking to school he found that he was getting even more weird looks than he usually did. It wasn't until he arrived to class a whole ten minutes late that a certain short haired ass-kicker pointed out the obvious.

"Ichigo." Tatsuki said, rubbing her temples in frustration of Ichigo's unending ignorance, "You've got blood all over your face."

Ichigo blinked. He had felt no pain and he definitely wasn't actively bleeding… a gentle touch to where the lieutenant had clipped him revealed some torn skin.

"Oh…"

Tatsuki's tenuous hold on her emotions burst, "Then go to the bathroom and wash up you degenerate! Kami above how dumb are you?"

"Jeez fine, if you insist. I'll be back Ms. Ochi."

Flabbergasted at the insanity this delinquent insisted on bringing into her classroom Misato had no problem with Ichigo tidying up. "You do that Kurosaki, and please don't come into my classroom bleeding all over the floor again?"

Ichigo laughed, a full belly laugh that finally broke the tension he'd been feeling at the insanity that he had called his morning. "Sorry Ms. Ochi, No promises."

Aside from that nothing of interest ended up happening the rest of the school day for which Ichigo was immensely grateful. Lunch was bland and classes were mind numbingly boring and easy, actually, they felt just a bit easier than they had the day before, but he chalked that up to his Intelligence increase. And while nothing crazy happened Ichigo did get an important skill.

The only thing getting him through that particular day was looking around at all of his classmates levels which were floating above their heads. The vast majority of teachers and students were uninteresting; even Muiziro and Keigo didn't have any titles. Chad was cool. He was level ten which would have had Ichigo fuming if he hadn't hit fifteen thanks to the tutorial. Even his title was cool **[El Gigante]** , Chad had taught him a couple of words in Spanish so he was pretty sure it meant the giant which was certainly an apt title. Tatsuki had **[Karate Queen]** which seemed over the top, but made a lot of sense. Ichigo certainly felt smug at the fact that she was just level seven. Though par was around level four so it was impressive in comparison to all the nobodies. One title was outright disturbing.

 **The Last Quincy**

 **Uryu Ishida Lvl. 28**

"The fuck's a quincy? And why is his level so damn high? I thought he was just the president of the knitting club. Fuck me." It was then a familiar blue text box appeared.

 **Congratulations! Through a special act you have gained a skill!**

 **Observe Lvl. 1**

 **Observe allows the player to see the basic description of the people and items around them. Right now the player will be able to see another character's Name, Level, Title, HP, and MP. Characters with levels far above the player's will only show their name and title unless they have been intentionally hidden. Inaccessible information will appear as ? where numbers or words normally would. This also allows you to see an enemy's health while in battle.  
**

 **I was being nice when I let you see your enemies' health earlier.**

"That's nice I guess…" Ichigo's curiosity was too great for him to ignore so he immediately got to using it.

 **Title: El Gigante**

 **Name: Sado "Chad" Yasutora**

 **Level: 10**

 **HP: 400/400**

 **RK: 420/420**

 **Title: Karate Queen**

 **Name: Tatsuki Arisawa**

 **Level: 7**

 **HP: 160/160**

 **RK: 220/220**

 **Title: School Idol**

 **Name: Orihime Inoue**

 **Level: 7**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **RK: 220/220**

 **Title: The Last Quincy**

 **Name: Uryu Ishida**

 **Level: 28**

 **HP: 400/400**

 **RK: 800/800**

'He's got pretty high Reiryoku, maybe Ishida knows how to use it? Oh wait! Active Combat Abilities.' he thought. There was only one.

 **Hado #1: Sho Lvl: 1**

 **The most basic of Kido spells taught to ? in training. A small amount of Reiryoku is gathered upon the casters finger and expelled creating a small force. An inability to do this spell suggests that perhaps the user should give up on becoming a ?.**

 **RK Cost: 5**

 **Cast Time: Instant**

 **Damage: 1 + Int + Wis**

A cruel shit eating grin spread across Ichigo's face. 'Hohoho, it might be weak, but damn I can spam the fuck out of this guy. Uh, about… 1,200 times that's like 25k damage before I'm out. I probably can't do that in one shot, but damn that's awesome. Forget Glasses, I'll go try to grind this after school.'

~GB~

Constant use of Observe got him through the day, by the end of it he had gotten Observe up to level 5 so now he could see the stats, which seemed ok. Just as he was packing leaving to pick up Yuzu and Karin to go home Tatsuki walked up to him looking uncharacteristically nervous. Already worried that he'd have to deal with some bullshit Ichigo further emphasized his scowl thought this did nothing to stop the Karate Queen.

"Uhm… Ichigo? Can I ask you for a really big favor?"

~GB~

 **Again, I'm so friggin sorry to you who have read my other stories. They ARE NOT abandoned, far from it, it's just that I don't have a dedicated editor and as such CANNOT put out the redone chapters. And if I can't put up the redone chapters then I definitely can't progress the stories… except for my Percy Jackson fic, I could update that one I think. Either way I will update those eventually, I swear it. I just had to write this.**

 **Now this fic exists thanks to another one called A Game of Blades which has unfortunately been taken down due to a very silly violation. When it gets I would suggest you give it a read, it's very high quality and has some pretty badass ideas. If you have already read it you'll probably recognize the upcoming quest, though I'll definitely be altering it a good amount. Multiple elements will be pulled, but know that this is intentional and with permission from the author.**

 **Trust when I say that this will go places! Like I hope you guys go wtf! With what I have planned. Unfortunately you might find it pulling cliches from other fanfics, but I feel like that's unavoidable.**

 **Usually this is full of overanalyzations and explanations of less obvious things in my stories, but even this story took me a couple of sessions stretched out over a month so not everything is ready in my brain. I am jumping right into the next chapter so I won't have any feedback to work with so I'm sorry for any of you thinkers.**

 **OHOHOHOHOHOHOH! I wanted desperately to make Orihime's title some sort of joke, but I couldn't figure it out and I went for something obvious. So please, if you can think of something hilarious, but not detracting hit me up. I won't be calling her the Bimbo or the Great Breast or anything. It has to be true to the character, funny, but ultimately supportive and something that could give her a unique perk.**

 **One last little bit is about the fact that I have no editors which means I'll never be content with my content. But please point out big mistakes and flaws so I can continue to get better with them. Hell even writing and plot issues.**

 **Thx ;)**


	2. Tekken Baseball Field Tournament

**AN: It was not something I considered going into this story, but I think the cover image for Goku the Gamer is pretty cool and nothing I've found on google has Ichigo playing a video game! So it any fans are real good artists I'd… I'd pay to have a good cover image of Ichigo playing a video game. I'd prefer if it were a console since PC seems like something Ichigo wouldn't have and since this came out 2001 I'd think it's be cool for him to be playing playstation specifically. Just make sure he's having fun. And real talk, I'd be willing to pay 100+ bucks if you want to be paid and it's good enough.**

 **Oh and I'm not a fan of the title, if ya'll got a good one and want to share hit me up and I'll credit you.**

 **Anyway, I'm writing this without any feedback from chapter one, so again sorry if I do some edits in a week or so after changing stuff around, I'm just really pumped about this story. Onto the story!**

~GB~

Chapter 1 Summary: Ichigo is a gamer! Tutorials are long and annoying! He fought in a buffed up tutorial fight and got some sweet secret loot for completing the tutorial. While in school Ichigo unlocked the Observe ability and found out Ishida's a Quincy. Weird! Then Tatsuki came up to him looking for favors.

~GB~

Chapter 2: Tekken Baseball Field Tournament

Ichigo was torn, ever since his mom died when he was nine he and Tatsuki had drifted apart. Sure they weren't antagonistic toward each other, but they had gone from best friends to barely friendly acquaintances. They never said more than a sentence to each other, they never hung out outside of school, they rarely worked together on team projects in school! It was fucking weird that she was even initiating a conversation with him! But there would always be the fact that out of everyone Tatsuki knew him the best, she knew things about him he barely knew about himself and that always made him uncomfortable. To be honest it was the biggest reason he distanced himself from her so much. How was he supposed to be a badass when this short little thing of a girl could always make him smile and be happy? He had to be a brick wall, for himself and his family; and Tatsuki would have made that process… difficult.

The day Ichigo quit karate lessons Tatsuki was very mad, but by as night descended upon Karakura little Tatsuki was very sad. She knew even then that something huge had changed in her friendship with Ichigo and looking back Tatsuki wished she had done more. Unfortunately nine year olds aren't well equipped to deal with grief and to console someone dealing with grief might as well be an impossible task. It was an everyday occurrence that she would look at Ichigo lament the death of their close friendship, she refused to wallow in it, but it did make her sad even now. Even now as she looked up at him she thought, 'He's so different…' Where was the crybaby that she always had to protect from bullies? That would spend hours playing with her on playgrounds? He had become so cold, he always seemed angry and even when he was around his friends he rarely cracked a smile. Him and Chad clicking so well made all the sense in the world to her, they could just fight and be stoic together, like machines. On really bad days she would lie in bed alone with her thoughts and cry. She knew why he did what he did, why he acts the way he does, 'He's still so hurt, Oh sweet Kami I wish I could help him.' But she could not, because he would never let her, or anybody, and school would go on like normal. She knew that the biggest motivation behind her friendship with Orihime was because she had simply transferred her feelings from Ichigo to her. It was obviously not everything and she absolutely loved her like a sister, but every so often she would feel a twinge of guilt that she was just using Orihime to feel better about herself. But all of these thoughts was why she rarely approached him for conversation, because she would think all of them every time and it was a depressing spiral that she loathed.

"Uhh Tatsuki? You wanted something?" She had gone quiet for almost a minute and Ichigo could easily tell that she wasn't there with him.

Tatsuki almost jumped at the sound of his voice, she had been so far gone and she never knew, Ichigo could have left and she would have been none the wiser. 'Dammit!' Sending him a slight glare she crossed her arms and looked at passing crowd of students leaving the school.

"Our school's karate club, of which I'm the president, is going to be part of an illegal tournament at the baseball field across town with a bunch of other high school's clubs tonight at around six. But it seems that the fights started a couple of days ago because a bunch of my best guys have been injured in "mysterious" accidents." She couldn't help the frustration leaking into her voice. "I know you're strong Ichigo, so I'm asking you please. Can you help me?"

'Tatsuki saying please? She's practically begging! This tournament could be a great way level up, but I really wanna see her squirm' So Ichigo said nothing. He waited a full minute and just as Tatsuki seemed ready to explode he said, "Sure."

Anger became confusion which became relief which ended on annoyance that Ichigo had been so obviously teasing her. She never doubted him though, he's too much of a bleeding heart to turn down someone in need.

"Good, good. Unfortunately we don't know exactly this will go down since we agreed to decide when everyone is there. And… try to bring Chad along." And she walked off.

 **Quest**

 **Baseball Field Tournament!: Tatsuki needs your help! Someone has been sabotaging her club and now only the dregs and slackers will be able to attend. At this rate her club is sure to lose and your attendance might just sway things to her favor.**

 **Objectives: Attend the Tournament, Win a fight**

 **Bonus Objectives: Bring Extra Help, Win Several Fights, Win the Tournament**

 **Rewards: Mildly Increased Rep. with Tatsuki Arisawa**

 **Bonus Rewards: Greatly Increased Rep. with Tatsuki Arisawa, ?, ?, ?**

 **Quest Failure: 100 Exp., Severely Reduced Rep. with Tatsuki Arisawa**

'Hmmm, I don't know… this quest is all about Tatsuki which is kinda weird. But those bonus rewards might be sweet. And I guess I already accepted by saying yes to her… whatever, gotta go find Chad.'

~GB~

Chad was easy to find since he had a tendency to ruminate in the wonders of nature or as Ichigo liked to call it, act like a goddamn hippie. El Gigante wasn't even a block away from the school where Ichigo found him just staring at a bunch of baby chicks in a nest.

"Errr, hey Chad? You wanna help out in a tournament at the baseball field at around six?"

Without looking at him Chad answered, "Sure Ichigo, I'll be there."

Chad didn't say anything else so Ichigo just stood there desperately looking for something to say to break the absurdly awkward atmosphere, but couldn't think of anything relevant. So he just shrugged and said goodbye.

~GB~

Yuzu and Karin didn't get out immediately after Ichigo so he had half and hour to kill, but as he was passing by Karakura High again he remembered Ishida's absurdly high level.

'I wonder if I could get a guy like him to help out?'

Figuring he had nothing to lose either way Ichigo went looking for the knitting club and it's president. It only took him a minute, but man, popping his head in for even a second could seriously hurt his street cred, he had to make this quick.

Opting to quite literally pop his head in Ichigo quickly scanned the surprising number of members before finding the pair of glasses he was looking for.

"Yo, Ishida! Come out here I want to talk to you." No matter what he did Ichigo knew he would probably never shake the delinquent stigma that clung to him like a toxic cloud, after all it was a perk he had, but in this case he hoped it would be useful. 'Ishida might not have a reason to be scared of me, but all those Hufflepuffs in there will probably pressure him into going for fear of his "safety" if he just ignored me. Funny.'

True to form Ishida came out not even a minute later, he was clearly cross.

"Heyyyyy Ishida, buddy…"

"What on Earth could you possibly want with me Kurosaki?" said, Ishida clearly wanting to be done with this conversation.

"Well, believe it or not I know you're a pretty strong dude and-"

"What are you talking about? You know nothing about me, much less how "strong" I am. So if you're looking for a fight I suggest-"

"But I know you're a quicky, or uhh, a Quincy or whatever."

Silence. The typically mild mannered Ishida's face went from blank to rage filled during which Ichigo found himself desperately dodging punches.

"Woah, woah, woah! Chill out! The fuck you doing?"

"If it's a fight you wanted Kurosaki, you've got one now." Ishida said when he took a breath after realizing he had stopped when the ginger punk had mentioned his race.

"Cut it out! I'm not looking for a fight! Seriously, I actually want your help with something!"

Taking a much deeper breath to calm the rush of adrenaline in his veins Ishida observed Ichigo with a critical eye.

"Why do you need my help?'

"Like I said, you're a pretty strong guy and Tatsuki, from class, the chick with the short hair, tomboy, needs help with a tournament at the baseball field across town at six. So…"

"I could help I suppose, but only if you tell me how and why you know I'm Quincy. Swear it and I'm there."

Now this posed a problem, no way was Ichigo going to tell him about the Game, but his help could be valuable… and he wanted those bonus rewards dammit! Confident he could come up with some convincing bullshit Ichigo agreed.

"I swear. Tomorrow at lunch meet me at the roof, I'll tell you _everything_. Can I trust you to be there?"

"Fine Kurosaki, I look forward to our conversation." Ishida then entered his clubroom leaving Ichigo alone in the hallway.

"Huuu… what the fuck? Who knew talking glasses of all people would be so stressful. And i bet he coulda hit me if he wanted to, after all his Dexterity is almost double mine." 'Huuu, I wonder if there's anyone else I can get to help?'

~GB~

There was someone else he could get! But he was extremely hesitant to ask her. For two reasons actually. One, she might already be going and two, Tatsuki might get mad if he brought her. But really none of that mattered, because she would increase his bonus reward.

He found Inoue just skipping along the sidewalk with nary a care in the world. She clearly wasn't paying attention to her surroundings because just as Ichigo was going to talk to her, after finally tearing his eyes away from her beautifully bouncing boobies, she slammed head first into a crosswalk sign.

"Ow, Ichigo you distracted me!" She complained as she rubbed her forehead. Being all cute and shit.

Ichigo was so loss. "H-How did I distract you? How'd you know I was here?"

Realizing her slight tongue slip Orihime clammed up and went red in the face.

Knowing he wouldn't get a response from her if she was like this Ichigo decided to ignore her… quirks, and get to the point.

"Well anyways, Tatsuki's short on fighters for a tournament at six and I was wondering if ya' could help out."

That certainly snapped Orihime out of her embarrassment induced coma, "What!?"

"Ah, so she didn't tell ya' huh? That girl… the fight's at six so you've got two and a half hours to be at the baseball fields across town ok?"

'That girl… why wouldn't she ask for my help?' Composing herself and achieving a stern attitude Orihime bowed deeply to Ichigo. "Thank you Kurosaki-kun, I'll be there." She then marched off to he house at an impressive click.

"What an… interesting girl. Well it is three thirty and…" Ichigo's eyes widened in horror, "I forgot about Yuzu and Karin!"

~GB~

An exhausted Ichigo arrived at the middle school his sisters go to just in time for the after school activities to let out. 'Kami be praised, I wasn't late.' Once again he surprised himself because mere moments after leaning against the wall to relax he felt like he was at 100%. 'Man, this **Gamer's Body** is broken.'

"Ichi-nii!" Came the voice of an exuberant eleven year old.

"San-shi!" Echoed the voice of a noticeably less exuberant eleven year old.

"Karin! Why do you always do that! It's not funny!"

"Bah, it's funny, and it's your fault for being so peppy about it."

Finally the sister duo got to their older brother. "Ugh. Hi Ichi-nii!"

"San-shi." whispered Karin.

He could hold in his laugh as he hugged Yuzu and twirled her around. "And a hello to you Yuzu, and you too Karin." Though Ichigo had his bad boy exterior that he refused to let Tatsuki mess up his little sisters absolutely melted him, if only for bit.

With his new strength he barely felt Yuzu as he held her on his hip and despite Karin's tight squeeze on his hand he didn't feel any pain. Every moment in the game was a marvel, it even made class fun! Or at the very least more beneficial than usual. He let the idle chatter of little girls wash over him, answering with the minimum required of him, these were the moments that he was happiest. His sisters were his world and with the Game in his life he felt even more confident that he could protect them no matter the situation.

~GB~

By the time they got home Ichigo had forgotten his father's customary surprise attack. He was far too deep in a fantasy of in which he reached levels never seen before and slayed dragons in the name of protecting his little sisters. So when Karin opened the door and Ichigo took a kick to the chest without flinching everyone stopped.

Karin and Yuzu were floored. First, Ichigo did nothing to protect them, then their father had attacked Ichigo in spite of their presence, and finally their big bro didn't budge when taking a full body kick to the chest! They had no words.

Isshin on the other hand was quite perturbed by the unexpected turn of events. (spoilers for like… 2008 seriously if you haven't finished Bleach, or at least gotten close to the end before giving up on the garbage fire it became, or at minimum finished the Aizen arc, why are you here?) While he might no longer be a shinigami or, even more damning, incapable of sensing reiryoku he had a good handle on his son's physical prowess. He was perfectly capable of wiping the floor with the snot rag, but he worked hard to reasonably challenge him to encourage growth well beyond what is normal for a human. This attack was a dodging attack so it was stronger than normal and Ichigo should have sensed that it was and thusly, dodged. Red flag number one. Though nowadays it might be rare every once in a while Ichigo will get hit by a strong attack he was supposed to dodge, it's not the end of the world for him, but the large and painful bruise left behind is a constant reminder to the boy to be on his toes, i.e., he should have been laid out by that attack. Thankfully he wasn't because Ichigo was carrying Yuzu and Isshin would have never forgiven himself if he had hurt her. The fact that he took the hit, and moreover took the hit like it was nothing, was red flag number two. But above all else, the fact that Ichigo didn't seem to be attacking him was a huge red flag. To make matters weirder his boy seemed to be in shock and awe of something.

Oh, Ichigo was shocked alright. He apparently hadn't gotten a good look at his dad in the morning because he wouldn't have forgotten his level. He also wouldn't have been able to instinctively observe Isshin which is exactly what he did.

 **Title: Shiba Clan Head**

 **Name: Isshin Kurosaki**

 **Lvl: 84**

 **HP: (1,000/1,000) 500/500**

 **RK: (2,620/2,620) 5/5**

 **Stats: 80**

 **Str: (85/2) = 42.5**

 **Vit: (50/2) = 25**

 **Dex: (70/2) = 35**

 **Int: 75**

 **Wis: 81**

 **Luck: 36**

 **Charm: 23**

'Dad… what the fuck dad… dad… dad what the fuck!' It took Yuzu poking him to snap out of his shocked haze.

"Dad! What the hell?" I'm with the girls why the f-heck would you decide that I needed more training right now?"

"Ah, well… you see…"

"Blah, blah, blah… seriously dad you had to see us coming in order to surprise me so…?"

"Well, actually… funny you say that…"

"Nonono, no. Don't ffffriggin tell me you waited here all day for me to get home just so that you could attack me."

"Well… not _all_ day…"

"You know… I don't even care." Finally Ichigo put Yuzu down. "Why don't you two head on in."

The girls complied, though, with some hesitance. After all the back and forth between father and son was kind of hilarious.

Once they were out of sight Ichigo got personal.

"Listen up Goat-chin I got important shit to do later, so don't ya' run around annoying me ok?"

Isshin Shiba was calm man, it took a lot for him to get angry and even then he usually wasn't violent, but right then he almost beat the ever living shit out his firstborn. Unfortunately his coping mechanism for his wife's death left him a rather headless head of household. The only time his kids ever took him seriously was during a medical emergency which was rare, so his hands were tied.

"Fine, fine, go do your homework or whatever I'll just be here saving lives." Deciding upon a pathetic, dejected state Isshin went off to ponder his son's newfound strength.

'Dad of the year ladies and gentlemen. Now let's get to work.'

It took Ichigo a surprisingly short amount of time to complete his homework which left him with about an hour of time to kill before the tournament. Just as he was lying back to relax a blue screen popped up.

 **Would you like to view the notifications you ignored today?**

 **[Y/N]**

Ignored seemed harsh since he had specifically requested them to be put aside for a moment like this, but now was as good a time as any so Ichigo hit Y.

 **The notifications will be listed in chronological order**

 **[Dodge] has leveled up!**

 **[Passive Combat] Dodge lv. 26**

 **It's all about timing because if you can dodge a car you can dodge a giant monster who wants to devour your soul!**

 **Chance to dodge an attack: (Your Dex - Opp. Dex + 26)%**

 **Through a special action you learned the ability Speechcraft.**

 **By paying attention in class all day you've gained 2 Int.**

 **[Passive Utility] Speechcraft Lvl. 2**

 **The art of talking is a life skill like no other. Be it for seduction, coercion, convincing, or just plain lying to someone a silver tongue will always come in handy.**

 **(2+Charm)% chance to convince someone to your point of view**

 **This skill is matched against an NPC's Charisma**

 **[Dodge] has leveled up!**

 **[Passive Combat] Dodge lv. 27**

 **It's all about timing because if you can dodge a car you can dodge a giant monster who wants to devour your soul!**

 **Chance to dodge an attack: (Your Dex - Opp. Dex + 27)%**

 **Through a special action you have learned the ability Intimidation.**

 **[Active Utility] Intimidation Lvl. 15**

 **You're big and bad and you wanna make sure everyone knows it. Through a combination of words and physical prowess you can send all of the sheeple running.**

 **(15+Speechcraft Level+Str)% chance to intimidate**

 **This skill is matched against an NPC's Wisdom**

 **Intimidation Failed!**

 **By completing your homework in a timely manner you gained 1 Int.**

'I guess the intimidation failing makes sense, even if I don't like it. But Kami above dad's stats are ridiculous. I'd love to find out why, but there's just no way he'd let slip why he's as strong as he is…' As if the world was listening a blue text box appeared.

 **[Quest Alert!]**

 **The Mystery of the Bum-ass Father**

 **Isshin Kurosaki is clearly much more than meets the eye. What's the deal with his title? Why is his level so absurdly high? If he's so capable why has he acted the way he has all these years since your mom died? Why are his absurdly high stats being slashed? The answers will change your life forever.**

 **Objectives: Learn the secrets of Isshin Kurosaki**

 **Bonus Objectives: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?**

 **Rewards: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?**

 **Bonus Rewards: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?**

 **Quest Failure: Ignorance of your true self, Death to you and all those you know and love**

 **Accept?**

 **[Y/N]**

'Death to everyone I know and love… and me too? But look at all those rewards! And let's be real, how hard will it be to find out goat-chin's secrets? Yeah I accept.'

 **The Main Quest has been Accepted**

 **Good Luck Bitch You're Going To Need It**

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS GAME! You know what? No, I don't care. This is very clearly a roleplaying game I can just fuck around doing whatever the hell I want, so FUCK OFF!" Realizing he was talking aloud and must sound like a psychopath Ichigo turned his thoughts inward once again. 'I wanna see if my Intelligence actually went up. Stats'

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 15**

 **HP: 400/400**

 **RK: 6,000/6,000**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 10**

 **Vit: 20**

 **Dex: 16**

 **Int: 13**

 **Wis: 10**

 **Luck: 4**

 **Charm: 5**

 **XP: 700/4,200**

"Oh shit… I'm not all human. Dammit I bet Dad's not human."

 **For making logical connections and coming to reasonable conclusions your Int and Wis have gone up by 1.**

"Nope, not dealing with it. Imma just put on some sweats and go to the fight. At least there I know what's going on."

~GB~

At six sharp Ichigo arrived at the baseball field to find a surprising number of people gathered. A quick surveillance revealed there to be around sixty fighters and for the most part their levels were ranging from eight to ten.

'Bullshit, are you telling me I might have lost if I came here yesterday? That's ridiculous.'

"You idiotic Strawberry!" Ah, the dulcet tones of a maiden most divine. "Why the fuck did you tell Orihime to come?"

"Oh just chill out Tatsuki, I know you've trained her a bit and just look at her," Orihime was decked out in a karate Gi and black belt as she went through some warm-up stances, "she's all pumped up to help you out. She was actually mad you didn't tell her anything soo…"

Their lively exchange alerted Orihime to their presence inciting the peppy girl to bounce on over to them.

"Hiya Kurosaki-kuu~uun, and Tatsuki-chan…" Her face dropped. "Why didn't you tell me about this? You know I could help, you trained me yourself! We're not little kids Tatsuki-chan!" While there was no true anger behind her words they certainly rang true with the tomboy.

"I-I know and I'm sorry Orihime, it just… I'd hate to see you get hurt you know?"

"And how do you think I feel? Who knows what could happen today! I know you're a great fighter Tatsuki, but look at all these people!" Orihime swept her arm at the crowd to emphasize her point. "So please, just ask for help. You're my best friend."

Tears, hugging, reconciliation, Ichigo was ready to barf, but he was interrupted by the nasally voice of some chick that puberty hadn't been the nicest to.

 **Title: Otaru High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Name: Masako Kogo**

 **Level: 12**

 **HP: 300/300**

 **RK: 200/200**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 15**

 **Vit: 15**

 **Dex: 18**

 **Int: 5**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Luck: 2**

 **Charm: 0**

"How adorable Arisawa, unfortunately we're not here for a tea party. The other club presidents are this way."

"Ugh, Kogo, fine. C'mon Ichi, Orihime."

"What you need an entourage, scared of us are ya?"

"Oh shut up Kogo, Just because you're a senior doesn't mean you're better than me. Let's just go."

Ichigo had no problem following along, it seemed like these Club Presidents might present an interesting challenge. Soon the group of four reached another small group of four whom Ichigo assumed to be the leaders of the other schools, a couple quick observes proved that assumption to be true.

 **Title: Shimoda High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Name: Hitoshi Tezuka**

 **Lvl: 12**

 **HP: 360/360**

 **RK: 380/380**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 25**

 **Vit: 18**

 **Dex: 11**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 1**

 **Luck: 3**

 **Charm: 1**

 **Title: Takaoka High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Name: Terao Kunda**

 **Lvl: 11**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **RK: 240/240**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 15**

 **Vit: 10**

 **Dex: 15**

 **Int: 10**

 **Wis: 2**

 **Luck: 1**

 **Charm: 2**

 **Title: Iwata High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Name: Orinosuke Nobusawa**

 **Lvl: 15**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **RK: 320/320**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 18**

 **Vit: 10**

 **Dex: 16**

 **Int: 8**

 **Wis: 6**

 **Luck: 7**

 **Charm: 10**

 **Title: Yuzuwa High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Name: Yukari Otomo**

 **Lvl: 18**

 **HP: 300/300**

 **RK: 420/420**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 20**

 **Vit: 15**

 **Dex: 20**

 **Int: 10**

 **Wis: 6**

 **Luck: 4**

 **Charm: 15**

'Well shit… this will be very hard, those thugs didn't know how to fight… this will be very, _very_ hard… damn.'

As the groups merged Yukari spoke up, "How nice of you to join us Tatsuki. The boys and I were just discussing about how we have all of these lovely people here and that it'd be a shame to exclude any of them. So we were thinking about making this a two part tournament. First will be a round robin where everyone fights everyone, then we'll have top eight fighters and do a traditional elimination tournament. How does that sound?"

"Oh that's sounds awesome." Ichigo could already see the levels rolling in.

Tatsuki hadn't been in favor of such a thing given how she had the smallest number of participants, but Ichigo's enthusiasm did give her a semblance of hope that maybe they'd come out of top.

"Sure, I think that'll work."

Yukari's gorgeous face lit up with a beautiful smile. "Oh how wonderful! Give me a few minutes to organize it and we can begin!" And with that she sashayed away.

"Ok then… I'm glad we're doing this. My club is a pretty big so not everyone gets to fight in formal competitions. It'll be good way for them to gauge their skill levels and practice a whole bunch." Said Orinosuke.

"Bah, who cares about that crap! I'm just glad that I'll be able to pummel so many punks." Interjected Hitoshi as the bear of a teenager tried to intimidate everyone else with ridiculous poses.

"Uhh right. I just hope I can get to the final tournament fighting so many people will be absolutely exhausting." Noted Terao trepidatiously.

"Oh that's totally true. Tatsuki-chan how are we going to fight so many people without fainting?" complained Orihime.

"Oh, well… Yukari isn't an idiot. I'm sure we won't be fighting our own members and there has to be some kind of fairness so we can't fight each other without some sort of supervision so there will have to be breaks. Right?" Tatsuki said in an effort to calm Orihime… and herself. 'God why'd I say yes so easily? No matter what happens Orihime is right, this will be exhausting.'

Ichigo knew he wouldn't have that problem, so in an effort to get some sort of secret objective he put forth his own idea. "Well, if it's a problem of supervision we can try to do ten or so fights at a time that I can referee and once everything is said and done I'll fight everyone in a row."

That turned heads.

"Ichigo that insane!"

"Oh I like your style buddy"

"Ditto"

"I may not know you sir, but I find it difficult to believe you'd be able to do that."

"It's not a terrible idea, but we couldn't possibly let you do all that."

"Hey, hey, hey. I mean what I say when I say that it'll be fine. My only request is that I fight you guys at the end."

"Oh that's so sweet of you." Sang Yukari startling everyone with her sneaky appearance. "I was going to do that exact thing, but since you're so willing~."

Something about the way she said it, or the way she seemed so happy about it made Ichigo falter in his confidence. 'Do it for the secret! But what if it's not a secret… Dammit too late now.'

"O-Of course. But how will this be organized?"

"Oh yeah, I have just the thing." With a wave of her hand two of her club members brought forth boxes full of paper and pens. "I brought a crate of multi colored pens so each school will be using a different color. The goal will be to get the signatures of your opponents and whether you won or loss. I just need from each of you how many members you have and we can tell everyone how many signatures of each color they'll need on their paper. Obviously we won't be fighting within out groups. Then some quick math to find the eight people with the highest win ratios and boom we're onto our final tournament. Of course this relies on an honor system but everyone will be watched by a crowd so lying will be easy to catch. And I heard what you said about ten simultaneous matches Mr. Strawberry Man and I like it so let's do that. And… I think that's it!"

While it was a lot everyone agreed that it wasn't a terrible idea.

"Alrighty! Then can you guys tell me how many people you brought along?"

"Well, I brought everyone available," said Terao, "So I believe that's fifteen people."

"I'm assuming we all did," added Orinosuke, "which means I brought… twenty guys."

"Twelve." grunted Hitoshi.

"Uhh I think I have sixteen people?" was Masako's answer.

"Well we only have four, Chad's here right?" Tatsuki asked Ichigo.

"He should be, but I also brought that Ishida guy." answered Ichigo.

"Ishida… you mean that glasses guy who's the president of the knitting club? Seriously Ichigo? That guy couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag much less throw around his weight here. What the hell!"

"Calm down Tatsuki. Trust me, that guy is really strong."

"Hmmm…" She growled. "I'm trusting you to do a lot today…"

"Yeah yeah, but you'll see."

"Fine we have five."

"Awesome, that leaves me with ten making sixty-two contestants, how fun!" exclaimed Yukari.

~GB~

The round robin tournament went off without a hitch. With Ichigo as referee there were very few forfeits due to low blows as the fighters were too scared of him to dare provoke his anger. Exactly as he foretold Orihime did good work in the tournament winning about seventy percent of her matches. Chad was laying down some serious pain and barely seemed to tire, his only losses were to the presidents and even then he beat Masako and Terao.

"Holy shit Ichigo! You weren't kidding about glasses guy!"

Uryu was the big upset of the tournament. While most contestants were wearing comfortable workout clothes or gis Uryu arrived in this absurd, pure white getup that looked about as functional as a teddy bear for a weapon. He then proceeded the decimate each an every opponent with the finesse of a brain surgeon. He didn't strike particularly hard, but he was never hit and every blow he landed counted. Even Yukari lost to him which almost turned her club members into an angry mob, but she stopped them before things could get out of hand. In the end everyone was in awe of this nobody who ended the round robin without any losses.

Finally came the time for Ichigo to fight.

"Alright everyone!" shouted Yukari, "The final contestant will be our lovely referee, please give him a round of applause for all of his hard work! He will be fighting everyone without rest so that everyone can have a break before the final round. Do not hold back!"

The announcement shocked most of the club members, but slowly hope filled their chests. Surely even the great Strawberry Thug of Karakura would tire out eventually and one of them were sure to walk away with the ability to boast about getting one over the feared delinquent. With a roar of a approval a line was made and the fights began.

"Let's go!" screamed Ichigo.

 **100 Exp**

 **100 Exp**

 **100 Exp**

 **150 Exp**

 **100 Exp**

 **300 Exp**

 **150 Exp**

 **200 Exp**

 **100 Exp**

 **100 Exp**

On and on it went. Fifty two scrubs, with the odd non scrub thrown in there, rose and fell before Ichigo's mighty fists of fury. All the while Ichigo made sure to stick to his Karate since he had quickly realized that now was a great time to grind the skill. He didn't have to forfeit a single match which no matter what the quest said, felt like an accomplishment. With every victory the crowd grew more and more shocked, they were witnessing an absolute monster in action! At the end he was barely breathing hard! Silence fell along with the last fighter as no words could describe what everyone had witnessed! Luckily this worked in Ichigo's favor.

 **In the course of defeating fifty-two opponents you have gained 9,200 experience points.**

 **Congratulations You have leveled up twice!**

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 17**

 **HP: 400/460**

 **RK: 6,800/6,800**

 **Stats: 10**

 **Str: 15 +**

 **Vit: 23 +**

 **Dex: 20 +**

 **Int: 14 +**

 **Wis: 11 +**

 **Luck: 6 +**

 **Charm: 5 +**

 **XP: 700/5,800**

'Wait… how did my physical attributes go up? Is it like when I did my homework and paid attention in class? OH SHIT! I could hit the gym, for like a whole day, and get huge gains! That also means I can save my points for huge boosts if I need them. Or so that I can huge specific weapons like what happened this morning.'

 **For making logical connections and coming to reasonable conclusions your Int and Wis have gone up by 1.**

'It doesn't stop! This is becoming more and more awesome by the second! Huuu. The big fight will no doubt be Uryu so if I want to have a chance at beating him I'll need to match his… thirty dexterity. It sucks to put them all in one stat, but I'm going to win! Hey look at that, Chad, Tatsuki and Orihime all leveled up, but they only got physical stats, but that makes sense I guess.'

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 17**

 **HP: 400/460**

 **RK: 6,800/6,800**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 15**

 **Vit: 23**

 **Dex: 30**

 **Int: 15**

 **Wis: 12**

 **Luck: 6**

 **Charm: 5**

 **XP: 700/5,800**

'And look at that, **Intermediate Karate** hit sixty-five and **Dodge** hit thirty-five. This is just great.'

"All right, this punk has gotten enough of a rest! Let me at 'em." proclaimed Hitoshi.

"I'm good, let's go." answered Ichigo.

Hitoshi rushed in confident that his strength would break through the weakling's absurd win streak. He was wrong.

Ichigo watched the human gorilla barrel towards him in boredom. 'Man this is what Ishida felt like when fighting these guys? They're just so… slow." When Hitoshi got close enough Ichigo doged left of his swing and delivered a brutal strike to the gorilla's exposed head. **Critical**

 **Shimoda High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Hitoshi Tezuka Lvl. 12**

 **[330/360]**

 **[Stunned]**

Unfortunately that didn't put him down, but Ichigo wasn't worried in the slightest as he went in for a flurry of blows to his stunned opponent.

 **Shimoda High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Hitoshi Tezuka Lvl. 12**

 **[315/360]**

 **Shimoda High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Hitoshi Tezuka Lvl. 12**

 **[300/360]**

 **Shimoda High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Hitoshi Tezuka Lvl. 12**

 **[270/360]**

 **Shimoda High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Hitoshi Tezuka Lvl. 12**

 **[255/360]**

 **Shimoda High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Hitoshi Tezuka Lvl. 12**

 **[240/360]**

 **Shimoda High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Hitoshi Tezuka Lvl. 12**

 **[210/360]**

 **Shimoda High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Hitoshi Tezuka Lvl. 12**

 **[180/360]**

He ended his attack with a crushing kick to the chest which sent his opponent flying.

 **Shimoda High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Hitoshi Tezuka Lvl. 12**

 **[150/360]**

 **[Unconscious]**

 **1,000 Exp**

"Hmph. Next."

Hitoshi's club members dragged his body away to give the poor boy a chance to recuperate. Terao came forward next.

"I concede." he said and walked right back into the crowd.

 **50 Exp**

"Uhm… ok I guess."

Masako came forward, but the struggle was evident on her face. "I… I also concede."

 **50 Exp**

"Ha! Bitch!" was Tatsuki's delighted reaction.

Orinosuke stepped forward and tightened his gi, settling into his Judo stance. "I'm not like these other fools. You'll have a hard time taking me down!"

"Eh? Isn't that a little too cliche?"

"Who cares? Let's go!"

 **Iwata High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Orinosuke Nobusawa Lvl. 15**

 **[200/200]**

'He's probably a better fighter than gorilla boy, but he's so squishy I doubt I'll have a problem.'

Ichigo approached carefully so he could bait out a grab before retaliating. The two combatants circled each other for a full minute before Orinosuke lunged for a leg grab, and missed. Ichigo flipped the script by slamming the president into the ground and wailing on him while on top.

 **Iwata High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Orinosuke Nobusawa Lvl. 15**

 **[170/200]**

 **Iwata High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Orinosuke Nobusawa Lvl. 15**

 **[0/200]**

 **[Unconscious]**

 **1,200 Exp**

'No kill prompt? The game probably knows death was never an option. This fight was almost easier.' Ichigo laughed as Orinosuke's club member dragged him much like Hitoshi's before. "That leaves you Yukari-chan!"

Yukari Otomo was a very beautiful woman. As a senior in high school she could boast have already been offered jobs at ten different modeling agencies. Unfortunately for them she was more interested in becoming a lawyer than showing off her gorgeous body for the whole world to see. She couldn't even do it on the side because her Muay-Thai training took up so much of her time, after all she could boast an eighty percent win-loss ratio despite most of her opponents being grown men who had been training for years. Every single day was a fight to maintain her perfect grades and looks and the absurd balance between running a club, school, homework, training, and trying not to fuck something to stay true to her purity pledge! There was no _fucking_ way some _thug_ off of the _streets_ was going to beat _her_!

Yukari stepped forward already, worked up by her thoughts, and settled into her Muay-Thai stance.

"No one liner for me? Ok." Confident in his victory Ichigo rushed in, before screeching to a halt a few feet away from her.

 **Yuzuwa High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Yukari Otomo Lvl 18**

 **HP: 600/300**

 **Given her astounding need to win this fight the Aura [Resolve] has been activated. All stats are doubled. If the character has reached zero health they will regain half of their max HP and the Aura will fade.**

A quick **observe** revealed this fact to be true.

 **Title: Yuzuwa High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Name: Yukari Otomo**

 **Lvl: 18**

 **HP: 600/300**

 **RK: 840/420**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: (20*2) = 40**

 **Vit: (15*2) = 30**

 **Dex: (20*2) = 40**

 **Int: (10*2) = 20**

 **Wis: (6*2) = 12**

 **Luck: (4*2) = 8**

 **Charm: (15*2) = 30**

To the common observer it seemed as though the sun quite literally shone out of Yukari's ass. Ichigo genuinely had to look away for a second because her beauty seemed to radiate off her body in waves. Yukari went in for a blow.

 **Critical**

 **-80 HP**

That sure as hell woke him up. 'This is some bullshit.'

She attempted to follow up, but Ichigo had finally remembered that dodging was a thing and jumped away from the knee on the way to his stomach.

Wiping the faint trickle of blood Ichigo spoke, "Damn bitch, if you wanted to get fucked up so badly you should have just said so." In spite of his big talk Ichigo knew he was in a bad spot. Unlike the gang members from this morning she was well trained, very well trained if the level disparity between her and everyone else was anything to go by. He'd have to pull something crazy out of his ass if he wanted to win.

After the first clash Ichigo and Yukari spent some time sizing each other up which was exactly what Ichigo needed.

'C'mon think! I'm playing a game there has to be something I can use… the reiryoku. If I can… feel it I guess? Maybe I can reinforce my punches with it or something.'

A quick exchange of blows left Ichigo down another forty health points while only dealing fifteen damage to his opponent.

'Dammit, it's do or die. Let's try this out.'

 **-1,000 RK**

 **Through a special action you have created an Active Combat Ability.**

 **Reinforcement Lvl. 1**

 **By manipulating the reiryoku found naturally within you, you can coat various body parts and harden them to increase their damage output and defense. The increase depends upon the amount you use in the technique and is split up between the limbs used.**

 **Damage Increase/Reduction: 1 per 10 RK**

 **Activation Time: 1 second per 10 RK**

 **Duration: 1 second per 1 RK**

'Hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about. My damage is huge right now and if I take her hits with my arms I'll take literally no damage. Kami this is fucking awesome. It also must have given me a pass on the activation time since this is my first time. That's nice. It's also nice that she hasn't attacked me yet she must be waiting for me to drop my guard.'

So in a move that shocked everyone Ichigo dropped his guard. And while it might have been an obvious trap Yukari knew that it would be a race to see who could land a hit first and she was sure she could win. Dashing in Yukari went for an overhead knee hoping to end the fight in a single blow. Even if Ichigo blocked it he should have broken a bone.

"What the hell?" asked a wide-eyed Yukari, the incredulity clear in her voice.

Ichigo didn't even flinch from the abnormally strong attack since he used both arms and their total of one hundred defense beat her eighty damage.

"Oh ho ho. I got your number bitch."

Having had his fill of theatrics Ichigo decided to throw the girl off of him forcing her to roll away. He then immediately followed up with a hammer fist to her back as she tried to stand.

 **Yuzuwa High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Yukari Otomo Lvl 18**

 **HP: 455/300**

The blow sent her back into the ground face first. Having way more fun than he should be Ichigo decided to let her try and stand using the time to spend another 1,000 RK and reinforcing both of his legs.

At the two minute mark she finally stood, even with the long rest she had before this fight Yukari was still a bit fatigued and it was beginning to show.

"Oh you poor thing you." Taunted Ichigo. "Why don't you just give up now and save us both a lot of trouble."

But his words merely rehardened her resolve. "I refuse! I've worked long and hard for my strength, I will not lose to you!"

"Fine by me." And with that Ichigo took the offensive.

He landed a blow to her head with one hand while catching her attack with the other.

 **Yuzuwa High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Yukari Otomo Lvl 18**

 **HP: 390/300**

He pressed on following up with an uppercut to her jaw. **Critical**

 **Yuzuwa High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Yukari Otomo Lvl 18**

 **HP: 260/300**

 **[Stunned]**

It was easy as pie landing two more critical blows when his opponent was stunned bringing her health down to zero.

 **Yuzuwa High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Yukari Otomo Lvl 18**

 **HP: 0/300**

But she got back up.

 **Yuzuwa High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Yukari Otomo Lvl 18**

 **HP: 150/300**

 **Health has been restored, thus the Aura [Resolve] has been broken.**

' #!$#$# !$# !$! Huuu… at least that dumb as fuck aura went away.' " Come on now Yukari-chan. Surely you've got more in ya' than that."

Yukari was swaying at this point. "You bet your sweet ginger ass I do! Bring it on!" With that final battle cry Yukari charged Ichigo.

Ichigo laughed, it was too easy at this point! A simple kick to the head was all it took to put down the beauty for good. **Critical**

 **Yuzuwa High Martial Arts Club President**

 **Yukari Otomo Lvl 18**

 **HP: 20/300**

 **[Unconscious]**

 **3,000 Exp**

'Hell yeah! That's a level.'

All was still for a moment as everyone absorbed what they had just witnessed. Then the silence was broken by the elated cheers of Tatsuki and Orihime as they rushed Ichigo with Chad not far behind. The outburst also snapped Yukari's club members, and fanboys, out of their stupor and into action helping nurse the bombshell back to health. After all they still had a tournament to fight in!

~GB~

 **AN: Damn. Just Damn. I really thought the tournament wouldn't be enough, but instead this chapter went on for longer, around 7k words! I was genuinely excited to write the next part… oh well. This will allow me to map out the next part better since this whole round robin tournament into a traditional elimination tournament thing was something I decided in the middle of writing this.**

 **And now I'm writing the rest of this AN a couple of days after the first chapter was submitted. Maa~aan! I'm sure there were things I wanted to say, but I've got people over and can't think up good stuff to say. I feel like it's gotten a damn good response which really only encourages me to do more.**

 **OHOHOHOHOH! TELL ME IF THE START WAS TOO MUCH, I MIGHT PULL IT.**

 **I'm too out of it to try and do a hard edit, so I'm sorry if it's sloppy and the eventual edit changes some big details. I really want to get to the next chapter.**

 **This chapter will not be setting the mood for the fic if any of you guys are worried no hollows will show up until canon. Shit will be ramping up I promise.**

 **Thx ;)**


	3. Spirits, Baby!

**AN: Hello readers! I've got to say I've been loving the positive response I've been getting it really encourages me to work hard on my stories.**

 **A question I got that felt important was about the harem in this story. There are nothing set in stone when it comes to the harem. As I writer I'm all about free flow and I rarely write up outlines for my stories, at most I fantasize about all the crazy stuff I want to do. Evidence of that should be very clear in this chapter. The only thing I can really say is that the harem won't be some hentai bullshit where everyone is trying to bang Ichigo for… "reasons". Tatsuki and Orihime are definite members I know there'll be some hollows but besides that… nothing. I don't even have a good way to get it started without just copying Goku the Gamer which I'm not a huge fan of. We'll see.**

 **Also, some people are saying Ichigo has been OOC and to a certain extent they're correct. The game is changing him a bit, but things like his vulgar language and the fact that the way he acts is mostly a front are things from canon. Vulgar language is a pull from the original Japanese in which Ichigo is a bit of a potty mouth, but let's be real it's no more than an average teen would react in these absurd and stressful situations. And the personality bit is kind of hammered home several times throughout the series a good example being the montage we get about his life after his mom died. And if you don't agree? Meh. Tite Kubo did not write the most spectacular of characters. Another way to think about it is that if Goku spoke English like he did Japanese he'd sound like a retarded redneck in Dragonball, becoming a slightly less retarded redneck in the ensuing series.**

 **HUGE APOLOGY! I don't think anyone really noticed, but I forgot to add the damage increase that Ichigo's Intermediate Karate skill gives him in the entire tournament last chapter. It works out I guess and I'm not fixing it since it'd be huge pain in the ass, but I just wanted everyone to know I recognized it and will strive to not make the same mistakes.**

~GB~

Chapter 3 Summary: Ichigo and Tatsuki get all introspective-y about their broken friendship! Ichigo gets a badass quest about a tournament in the baseball park that will help out Tatsuki. He gets some people to help, but has to reveal that he knows that Uryu is a Quincy to get him to help out. Then he gets his sisters home only to learn his father is a ludicrously high level and get another quest. Later he goes to the baseball field and does a whole lot of fighting, making himself out to be a badass the whole time. Only for a the night to end in a climactic battle with the strongest girl around where Ichigo learned a brand new move.

~GB~

Spirits, Baby!

They canceled the second tournament, it was just way too much to do in a single night; not to mention Ichigo and Yukari's fight ended at midnight. It was Wednesday! Everyone had class the next day! Despite ending without the elimination tournament it was clear to everyone that it would have come down to Ichigo and Ishida so not too much was lost. But before everyone dispersed and revived Yukari spoke up.

"Wait, wait, wait! I still wanna rematch." Her words were ever so slightly slurred as she was far too tired to maintain her proper manner. "You- you sexy little fucker! Next week, we'll do the tournament next week." she then fell asleep.

Despite her odd behavior all the captains agreed with the idea. Most of the club members also agreed as they were eager to see what would happen between the two unbeaten contestants.

Finally all who remained were the students of Karakura High. When she was sure they were all alone Tatsuki turned to her "club members" and bowed deeply.

"Thank you guys so much for coming and helping me out. I can't even imagine how humiliating it would have been to show up all by myself, not to mention that I doubt that I would have been able to impact the event as much as you two did." She looked pointedly at Ichigo and Uryu. "I'd like to-"

"Do not worry yourself by feeling the need to repay us Arisawa-san," Interrupted Uryu. "This competition was actually very beneficial to me since I had been getting lax on my training. If you absolutely must-"

"Hey! Speak for yourself glasses! You better spit up something good Tatsuki! I whooped some serious ass here today, not to mention I'll be winning that tournament next week."

Orihime seemed shocked by Ichigo's response, but before she could protest Tatsuki spoke up.

"You're right Ichigo, but if you want it you better win next week!"

That definitely threw everyone for a loop. They had expected a violent outburst, something Ichigo had actually been going for since it was so weird for Tatsuki to be acting the way she was, but the intensity they received felt… off.

"Uhh… sure. I guess that makes sense. Uhm. Until next week then." And with that Ichigo began walking off. He had just gotten off of the baseball field when he was stopped by a voice.

"Just a moment Kurosaki." Ichigo turned to look at Uryu. "I just wanted to be sure you haven't forgotten why I came here today. I expect some answers tomorrow and-"

Tired of his weak intimidation Ichigo interrupted and said, "Yeah, yeah. I'll tell ya' all about how I know your big ol' secret. Chill out ok man? Sheesh." He didn't bother waiting for a response hopeful that he wouldn't be interrupted again.

~GB~

Ichigo had wanted a relaxing walk home after the adrenaline rush that was not losing a single fight in the round robin tournament and beating the 'strong as hell' Yukari. Unfortunately his wishes were not meant to come true. Halfway home, while he was walking through an empty park, a black hole about the size of a van was ripped open, not twenty feet above him, and a grotesque, gray… thing crawled out. It was a quadruped that had the legs of a praying mantis, but the musculature of a wolf. It's face was a bone white skull that looked like it would have been more appropriate on a lizard. It had two tails that swung wildly totally unlike any animal Ichigo had ever seen, their strength was made obvious when a errant swing snapped a large tree in half. The oddest part to Ichigo though, was the large hole that was situated perfectly in the center of the creature's back. It didn't seem to be an injury…

But his examination of the creature came to an abrupt halt when he saw the name floating above its head.

 **Quad-Gripper Lvl: 33**

"Dammit! What the fuck is my luck when walking around alone today!" Oddly enough the beast wasn't attacking immediately giving Ichigo a chance to use **observe** which had leveled up a few times thanks to his repeated use of it while refereeing. He had enjoyed making personal bets using the fighters' stats as a reference.

 **Title: NA**

 **Name: Quad-Ripper**

 **Race: Hollow**

 **Level: 33**

 **HP: 1,600/1,600**

 **RK: 1,640/1,640**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 50**

 **Vit: 80**

 **Dex: 30**

 **Int: 3**

 **Wis: 2**

 **Luck: 0**

 **Charm: 0**

 **XP: 11,860/57,000**

 **Summary: Quad-Ripper is a generally unknown and weak Hollow. It's main stomping grounds has been the local neighborhood and park for the past decade. It has never eaten a shinigami thus it has no bounty, but it hopes to change that today.**

 **Bounty: 0 yen**

 **Drops: Souls, Hollow Mask Fragment**

'This guy is weak? Seriously! That's ridiculous he's almost double my level! I better use reinforcement quick cuz' there's no way I'm missing out on fighting this guy.'

 **-500 RK for Left Arm**

 **-500 RK for Right Arm**

 **-500 RK for Left Leg**

 **-500 RK for Right Leg**

 **-500 RK for Torso**

 **-500 RK for Head**

 **Activation Time: 50 seconds**

"That's a while… but…" At this point several minutes had passed since the Hollow had appeared and it had yet to attack him confusing Ichigo immensely.

"What the hell? Hey you!" he screamed. Nothing. "Maybe it's a proximity thing or sumthin'…"

Ichigo wasn't an idiot, he waited until **reinforcement** had fully activated and he had regenerated some RK before inching closer to the beast. It wasn't until he was thirty feet away did Quad-Gripper attack. But since he had been prepared to react Ichigo ducked the obvious leap leaving him directly below the tall beast.

The hollow growled in frustration. "Hiding below me won't help you… human. I never thought one of your kind could smell so… delicious!" He punctuated his statement by stabbing at Ichigo with two of his extremely pointy legs. Ichigo barely dodged the attack, but he ended up right next to the creature's left, rear leg. Taking a gamble Ichigo attempted to cripple the hollow by ripping off the limb.

"Holy shit it worked." With an agonizing ripping sound the leg got separated from the hollow's main body causing the hollow to roar in pain as its health bar plummeted to a about third. **Debilitating Critical**

 **Through a specific action a new ability has been created!**

 **[Active Combat] Tear Off Lvl. 1**

 **The action to tear something or someone off with a strong grip. Thirty percent increase in damage while tearing something off. Damage is calculated using the potential damage of a single strike caused by whatever limbs are used to Tear Off.**

 **Damage: Variable*1.3**

 **Quad-Gripper Lvl: 33**

 **[992/1,600]**

 **[1,640/1,640]**

 **[Crippled]**

 **When an enemy is crippled the Dexterity stat is reduced by 50%. There may also be other side effects**

Ichigo was actually able to read all of these pop-ups due to the fact that the Hollow was simply thrashing about in pain instead of actively attacking. He did notice, however when the noise stopped. Dismissing the text boxes Ichigo was shocked by what he saw.

 **Quad-Gripper Lvl: 33**

 **[1,400/1,600]**

 **[400/1,640]**

"What the hell? How'd you grow back your leg? That's bullshit!" Ichigo cried.

He hadn't expected an answer, but he got one anyway.

Quad-Gripper chuckled deeply at the outburst. "Silly human. We hollows have amazing regenerative powers allowing us to fight to the bitter end if we have to. You gave me time to do so, and that will be the last mistake you ever make!" The hollow ended the lesson by rushing at Ichigo.

"Pfft, whatever man." Using his superior dexterity Ichigo leaped onto the hollow's back, completely dodging the bite that aimed at his head, and grabbed onto its tails. "Do you need these?" He didn't wait for an answer. " **Tear Off**!" **Critical**

 **Quad-Gripper Lvl: 33**

 **[792/1,600]**

 **[402/1,640]**

Unfazed by the hollow's tortured screams Ichigo decided taunted it. "Thanks for the tip though man, I just gotta kill ya' real quick." He held on desperately to Quad-Gripper's back and slowly moved towards its head.

 **Quad-Gripper Lvl: 33**

 **[956/1,600]**

 **[74/1,640]**

"Man! That shit's fast! But you're all out of reiryoku… And I've got your head!" Positioning himself for a deadlift Ichigo used every muscle in his body in an attempt to remove the pitiful hollow's head. **LETHAL STRIKE!**

 **Quad-Gripper Lvl: 33**

 **[0/1,600]**

 **[0/1,640]**

Ichigo gracelessly rolled off the lifeless gray body landing squarely on his back on the grass. He laid there, simply taking in what had happened until he was distracted once again by the hollow. Though this time it wasn't miraculously getting back up and healing itself.

'Is that thing glowing… black?" Ichigo rubbed his eyes in disbelief. 'It's like… sucking out light or something. What the hell?'

Eventually the glow took over the entirety of the dead hollow's body and then it burst into the air in the form of black dust… that began pouring into Ichigo. Freaked the hell out Ichigo desperately scrambled away, but to no avail. Eventually it was all gone, absorbed into his body. Then a blue text box appeared.

 **You have gained 1,000 Souls.**

 **10 Hollow Mask Fragments can be found in your inventory.**

 **A Hollow Bone Club can be found in your inventory.**

 **100,000 yen has been added to your inventory.**

 **You have gained 7,000 Experience.**

Still hyperventilating, just a little bit, Ichigo asked aloud, "What the fuck?" A reasonable question given the absurd circumstances he had found himself in. Luckily the game seemed to be in a generous mood at the moment and another text box appeared replacing the previous one.

 **Aside from experience Souls can also be gained from a defeated hollow. They can be used for multiple purposes, but are essentially a special kind of currency. The Souls gained will vary from hollow to hollow as it depends on how many they have consumed in their lifetime. But above all Souls can be used for ?.**

"Seriously? Souls! Like actual souls? As currency? This is insane! This is actually insane. Does that mean all those ghosts I see can be killed and eaten? What the fuck…" But before Ichigo could descend into a full-blown mental breakdown another absurd event occurred. The sky began to crack and the cracks expanded until the entire sky shattered like a million pieces of broken glass. Then a text box appeared.

 **Congratulations!**

 **By completing a special event you have gained two abilities!**

 **[Active Utility] ID (Instant Dungeon) Create Lvl. 1**

 **This little wonder allows the Gamer to instantly create a field dungeon in his immediate vicinity. At level one the Gamer will only be able to create empty dungeons . As the Gamer levels the skill up he will be able to create more complicated dungeons such as, mob dungeons of different types, training dungeons, and even time dilation dungeons.**

 **Available Dungeons:**

 **Empty Dungeon**

 **[Active Utility] ID (Instant Dungeon) Escape Lvl. 1**

 **The sister skill to ID (Instant Dungeon) Create ID Escape allows the Gamer to escape from a dungeon. The Gamer will always be able to escape from a dungeon he made at any time, but be warned. When trying to escape from a dungeon of unknown origin the Gamer's level will be pitted against the creator's or dungeon boss' level to determine whether or not he will be able to escape. Higher level means the Gamer will be able to escape and an equal or lower level means escape is impossible.**

While reading about the new skills Gamer's Mind was finally able to calm Ichigo down. 'Well this seems cool. Let's see if I can level them up on the way home.' Looking around to be sure he had done everything he needed to, Ichigo dismissed the screens before setting off toward his home once again. But an errant thought stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Holy shit, that guy gave me a lot of money.' "Menu." The proof was right there below the date and time on the main page. "100,000 yen. 100,000 yen! Holy crap 100,000 yen." but his mood was quickly dampened when below that he saw the 1,000 souls he had just "earned."

But being on the menu reminded him that he had earned another level up leaving him with ten unused attribute points. So Ichigo settled down on a bench, for he had to leave the park, and opened up his stats menu.

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 19**

 **HP: 520/520**

 **RK: 2,600/7,600**

 **Stats: 10**

 **Str: 20 +**

 **Vit: 26 +**

 **Dex: 33 +**

 **Int: 15 +**

 **Wis: 12 +**

 **Luck: 10 +**

 **Charm: 5 +**

 **XP: 600/7,400**

"Man… did my strength go up in the middle of that fight? Guess it makes sense since I tore off limbs from a minivan sized monster. But what to do… what to do. I don't hit hard at all which is super annoying. But, with my level 33 **Backstreet Brawler** and and level 70 **Intermediate Karate** I'm doing… almost fifty damage per hit so it's not terrible. And **Reinforcement** is awesome, but it uses a lot of reiryoku and I've noticed that I seem to have an abnormal amount of of it. Like ten times more than I should, and I still suck it up. Since it goes off of wisdom and vitality I could either boost my health or my regeneration. On the other hand who knows what luck does and charisma seems impossible to increase without putting points into it… Kami this is hard. Luck might have something to do with getting ability though since it increased during the hollow fight which is when I got **Tear Off**. Maybe… maybe I'll just hold off for now. Wait until it gets really hard to level up stats on my own and then dump points. Hell! It's been only a day! So much Kami damned shit happened in one day! Who knows what will happen with a full day at the gym or the… urgh… library. Will gambling increase my luck? Will going to salons and spas increase my charisma? There's so much to do and try and… and I'm exhausted. It's…one a.m. now. I'm going home."

 **For having such a deep and thoughtful debate and coming to the most glorious of conclusions your Int and Wis have both gone up five points!**

Ichigo laughed. "Dammit. This thing doesn't stop." With that final bit of insanity he finally headed back home using his two newest skills all the while.

~GB~

When Ichigo finally got home and into his bed he hit was asleep almost instantly. In those final moments before sleep overtook him it became quite evident that while stamina as it is usually portrayed in video was not an issue for him, fatigue might be one.

 **For sleeping in your own bed your HP and RK have been fully restored.**

The alert seemed to function as an alarm since it woke Ichigo up at exactly six a.m. and while it was convenient it wasn't what interested Ichigo. The tiny… girl? Snoozing away without a care in the world, a large snot bubble inflated and deflated in tandem with her breaths, a girl with sky blue hair and an odd helmet slept on Ichigo chest only a few inches away from his chin. From what he could tell she was wearing a dark gray, sleeveless dress that went to her knees and covered up a lot of her mocha skin. Her presence had Ichigo fighting to keep his breath perfectly even as to not wake her.

You see, Ichigo had a certain weakness to cute things. They didn't make him squeal like a fangirl or write long diary entries that detailed his innermost thoughts about cute things, but they spurred his protective nature something fierce. The biggest recipients of these feelings were, of course, his little sisters. To this day Ichigo still remembered being four years old waiting to be let into the hospital room to meet his new siblings. How excitedly he was to get to know them. How scared he was that they wouldn't like him. But the moment he saw them everything he felt was replaced by this overwhelming love and this inherent need to protect them from any and everything. And they were just so cute! The tiny bundles with just the tiniest bit of black and brown tufts held within his mother's arms captured Ichigo's heart like nothing before and never again.

All things small and adorable made Ichigo feel that way albeit to a much smaller degree. That was why the first spirit he ever helped was a young boy of around five years of age. Even though no one else could see him Ichigo couldn't ignore the desperately crying child. They were friends until one day Ichigo went to their usual spot and the boy wasn't there. But young Ichigo wasn't sad because somehow he knew the boy had moved on. So while his friends would be put off by such out of character behavior from him, it really wasn't.

Five minutes became ten and then ten, thirty. Eventually the decision of whether or not to wake the tiny girl on his chest was taken away from him.

"Ichigo~! Come eat breakfast!"

First the tiny creature snorted popping her snot bubble. The pop seemed to further awaken the girl since she proceeded to yawn for a very long time. She groggily pushed herself up on all fours before trying and failing to stand causing her to fall onto her butt. She then tried to blink and rub the sleep out of her eyes while she smacked her lips. A few seconds later the tiny girl realized that she was not alone, but instead of confusion or horror she simply smiled and waved.

"Uhh… hello? Who are you?" Ichigo asked deciding to just go with whatever fresh hell the game had created for him.

The girl opened her mouth, but no words came out which seemed to shock her immensely.

Realizing he would have to do the heavy lifting in the conversation Ichigo sat up to look for a pen and paper while making sure to hold the small girl in his hand. She didn't protest the action instead she grabbed onto his shirt and clambered up onto his head plopping herself down and making herself comfortable in his hair.

"Uhh… ok." Changing his mind Ichigo grabbed an old hiragana book from his childhood and opened it to the first page. "Alright. You obviously understand what I'm saying so I want to to tug on my hair once for "yes" and twice for "no". Make sense?"

Two almost ethereal tugs responded.

Ichigo couldn't help the small smile that crept its way into his face. "Hardy har har, you're hilarious. I'm going to flip through this book so say yes whenever we get to a part of your name and then I'll try and figure out. Ok?

One tug.

"Great."

A total of four tugs later Ichigo had the letters U, Shi, To, and Ru. And with the way the tiny girl was the answer was kind of obvious.

"Is your name Rutoshi?"

He was answered by and tug and what he could only guess was excited rolling.

"Cute, but how about I call you Ru-chan for short?"

This time the little girl climbed down the Ichigo's face and kissed him in the nose.

"I'll take that as an ok." He said, to which she nodded and clambered back onto his head.

A quick look at the clock revealed he only had twenty minutes to eat, get dressed, and get to school if he wanted to be on time unlike the day before.

"Hold on tight Ru-chan!" He instructed.

Ichigo practically jumped into his clothes which caused a text box to pop up telling him he had leveled up his **fast equip** ability.

"Alright Game. Same deal as yesterday about the pop ups ok? And let's make this a permanent thing unless I say otherwise."

With that done he ran downstairs, shoveled down some delicious breakfast, and was out the front door. In the interest of increasing his stats without leveling up Ichigo decided to sprint the whole way to school which ended up being an absolutely exhilarating experience.

~GB~

Barely out of breath Ichigo walked into his classroom, sat down at his desk, and and pulled up his stats page.

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 19**

 **HP: 540/540**

 **RK: 8,800/8,800**

 **Stats: 10**

 **Str: 20 +**

 **Vit: 27 +**

 **Dex: 35 +**

 **Int: 20 +**

 **Wis: 17 +**

 **Luck: 10 +**

 **Charm: 5 +**

 **XP: 600/7,400**

'Alright. Sprinting here from home got me two dexterity points and one in vitality. And that wasn't even ten minutes! After school I'm getting a temporary gym membership because at some point I'm sure I'll be inhumanly strong and fast and gym equipment just won't cut it. And I need to grind that ability I got from the tutorial! Not to mention I got that zombie dungeon available. Kami damn it all there just aren't enough hours in a day!'

Classes were boring as per usual, but the "meeting" Ichigo had during lunch was starting to stress him out.

'What the hell am I going to say?' He thought while idly rapping his pens his on his desk. 'I won't bother trying to explain the game because he probably won't understand. But what can I make up that he'll believe? Hell, I don't even know what a Quincy is!'

Ichigo didn't have a clue, but he knew they had to do something with Hollows and Shinigami because an **observe** during the class he shared with Ishida before lunch revealed that he wasn't even human.

 **Title: The Last Quincy**

 **Name: Uryū Ishida**

 **Race: Quincy (Gemischt)**

 **Level: 28**

 **HP: 400/400**

 **RK: 800/800**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 15**

 **Vit: 20**

 **Dex: 30**

 **Int: 25**

 **Wis: 20**

 **Luck: 15**

 **Charm: 15**

 **XP: 26,000/28,200**

 **Summary: Uryū Ishida is the only son of Ryūken Ishida, a well known surgeon who is also the director of Karakura Hospital. Uryu trained to be a Quincy with his grandfather since his father refused to partake in things Quincy related. When Uryū was still young he witnessed his grandfather's, Souken Ishida, death while fighting a hollow planting the seed of hatred against shinigami since none came to save him.**

'Huh… Quincies are a separate race? And what the hell does Gemischt mean? Sounds German. His summary is personal as hell too, I never expected the game to give me so much information. I bet as it levels up I'll get even more. Bleh. Anyway, I've never seen or heard of a Shinigami outside of religion and folklore, but both Ishida's and the hollow's summaries mention them and it seems like they kill hollows. But I've seen spirits for years and never had I seen a hollow before yesterday so I guess these Shinigami have been doing a good job. Quincies also seem to slay them, but they seem mostly human so it seems weird if never seen anything before. Argh! What am I going to tell glasses? I'm not a Quincy! I think. Oh… but I've been seeing spirits for years! Maybe I can just say I heard about them from a random spirit I helped out? That could work… it also implies I'd known about him for a long time and never said anything 'till now.'

Having finally made up what was in his opinion a pretty convincing story, Ichigo slumped into his chair and let himself go into autopilot for the rest of class. Though he made sure to keep his head straight as to not knock down his tiny companion.

~GB~

"Spill it Kurosaki. How do you about me."

Ichigo ran his hand through his hair and exhaled in order to relax before delivering Ishida his bullshit.

"I've been able to see spirits since I was very young. I like helping them because they usually can be so sad and lonely and it always killed me to see them like that. And, well…"

"Get to the point Kurosaki." Not even the cool October breeze seemed to be able to relax the rigid Ishida.

"C'mon man! I'm getting there! You're the first person I've ever told this stuff!"

While that fact may have been true Ichigo was playing up his frustration and nervousness. He honestly couldn't care less about "exposing his secret," it just didn't come up in normal conversation unless he was at home.

The acting did work a bit since Ishida decided to relax against the rooftop handrails. "Fine. But you must understand, no one outside of my family should know about Quincies and your apparent knowledge is… unsettling."

"I get it. Anyway these spirits see a whole bunch of stuff and sometimes what they've seen while dead is a topic of conversation. I've known about Hollows, Shinigami, and Quincies for a long time, it just never comes up. The only reason I said anything to you about it yesterday was just so that I could blackmail you into fighting in the tournament since you're so obviously strong. I obviously didn't have to since you _attacked me_ and demanded answers so it was more of a trade."

Uryū was stunned. Kurosaki's answer was so… blasé! Unexpected for sure, but he had been anticipating something more! 'But what did I expect to hear? That Kurosaki was a long lost fellow Quincy? Or that he was, Kami forbid, a Shinigami?'

"Well then I must apologize Kurosaki, when you mentioned the fact that you knew that I was Quincy I expected the worse. I suppose this was all rather pointless." Uryū stood up straight and dusted himself off. "I will see you in class Kurosaki."

Ichigo was about to dance in celebration, but he was abruptly cut off by the sound of Ishida's voice. Uryū on the other hand was just about to open the door so that he could leave the rooftops when he remembered something he had taken note of yesterday at the tournament.

"Just one thing Kurosaki. I couldn't help but notice that you used reiryoku to help fight that girl from Yuzuwa High. I don't know how you gained the ability but… if you so wish, meet me after school at Kahaya Park, the one with the big lake, and maybe I could teach you about being a Quincy. Ih and leave behind your… passenger." With those final words Uryū left.

 **[Quest Alert]**

 **Park Meeting: For some reason after your talk with Uryū he invited you to a park after school. Maybe he wants to show you something…**

 **Objectives: Meet Uryu at Kahaya Park.**

 **Rewards: Another Quest**

 **Quest Failure: Reduced Reputation with Uryū Ishida, Inability to ever grasp the full scope of your awesome power**

 **Accept?**

 **[Y/N]**

"Way to be subtle game." he said as he hit Y. He then lightly poked Rutoshi to get her attention. "You heard that tiny tots?"

One tug.

"Alright you think you can take care of yourself at home without me?"

Two tugs.

"Eh… I'm sure Karin can see you I'll leave you with her. Oh. That's one of my little sisters by the way. She has a twin named Yuzu, but she won't be able to see you."

Two tugs.

"Don't be like that. Karin might not be the most… playful of girls, but I'm sure she'll be fine. And hey, if you hang out with Yuzu maybe she'll be able to see you and I know you guys will get along just fine."

A few seconds passed before Ichigo felt a single slow tug.

"Great, thanks a lot Ru-chan. We got a couple of minutes and no one is up here so let me get a good look at ya'." Ichigo said as he grabbed Rutoshi and sat down.

She was so small she could fit into the palm of his hand quite comfortably. She seemed to be as tall as his middle finger and weighed nearly nothing. Her blue hair clashed with her dark skin, but Ichigo thought it just added to her doll-like cuteness. This time he got a good look at what he had thought was a helmet and got quite a surprise.

"You're a… hollow?"

His closeness and hot breath made Rutoshi giggle, but she nodded affirmatively.

"Huh…"

If Ichigo looked very closely he could make out that the helmet was more like the top of a big cat's skull. The other detail he had missed was that instead of incisors the skull had large lumps that jutted out further than the rest of the teeth almost like-

"A sabertooth tiger?" Ichigo smiled. "Well aren't you the scary one? A big bad kitty." He laughed at her indignant pout and her attempted assault on his thumb. "Alright, alright calm down I'm just joking. One last thing before we go to class. **Observe**."

 **Title: ?**

 **Name: ? Rutoshi ?**

 **Race: Hollow (?)**

 **Level: ?**

 **HP: ?/? 5/5**

 **RK: ?/? 5/5**

 **Stats**

 **Str: ?**

 **Vit: ?**

 **Dex: ?**

 **Int: ?**

 **Wis: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **Charm: Infinite**

 **XP: ?/?**

 **Summary: She appeared this morning on your belly and is the cutest. She's also a hollow.**

Ichigo opened his mouth but no words came out. "Grk…" Recollecting himself Ichigo placed Rutoshi back onto his head and went back to class.

~GB~

Weighed down by the possibility that he had a horrible monster rolling around in his head Ichigo couldn't get a single stat out of his classes that afternoon. Just as he was leaving to drop off Rutoshi at his house Tatsuki walked up to him.

"Ichigo! Hold up! I just got a call from one of captains from yesterday, Terao, and he finished checking the win loss ratio of everyone who fought yesterday and you and Chad and Ishida are going to be in the tournament next Wednesday."

"You didn't make it?" asked a surprised Ichigo. That seemed to be the wrong answer because Tatsuki crossed her arms and her voice gained a sharp edge to it.

'Well I'm sorry I don't have infinite stamina like you and Chad or that I'm some sort of martial arts genius like Ishida apparently is, come to think of it I didn't recognize his style at all… anyway. I got a bit unlucky and had twenty fights in a row causing me to lose the last four."

By the end of her retort the edge was gone, replaced by disappointment. Ichigo could easily tell she was taking the news hard, so he decided to take a gamble.

"Well you're right, I'm a bit of a stamina freak, but the fact is that you're way better at karate than I am. So how about this…" Ichigo was nervous, but desperately tried to relax, there was no telling what would happen if this worked. "We can train together like we used to when we were kids. If your schedule is anything like before you probably have the weekends free unless you're going to a competition so maybe we can do it then?"

Tatsuki's blank look did nothing to quell Ichigo's nervousness, but she knew her answer was important and was figuring out how to respond. 'Training together again huh? This could be my chance to get through to him… And his form was sloppy last night so he needs the training. And if he can get me to be anywhere nearly as strong as Chad, Ishida, or himself this could be great.' Decision made Tatsuki answered him.

"Sure Ichi. Meet me at my house Saturday morning, 8 o'clock. My mom and I turned the basement into a dojo and weight room so we should be able to train there quite nicely. Oh yeah, the others in tournament are Yukari, Orinosuke, Hitoshi, Yukari's Vice President Tomokazu Hitomi, and Orinosuke's twin brother Korechika. I actually lost to all of these guys so it makes sense." She turned to leave. "See you Saturday Ichigo."

 **Quest**

 **Personal Training: While you may eclipse Tatsuki in terms of speed and strength she still has many things to teach you.**

 **Objectives: Meet Tatsuki on Saturday**

 **Rewards: ?, ?, ?**

 **Quest Failure: Death. Tatsuki will kill you.**

"Huh… I'm a fan of living… and another decision I don't get to make. Whatever, I would have said yes anyway."

Ichigo then ran to his sisters' school to pick them up hoping his surprise would excite them. Once no one else was around he began explaining.

"Alright girls, I've got something awesome to show… Karin I guess. Sorry Yuzu, maybe someday soon you'll be able to see spirits, but…" Realizing he was saying a whole lot of nonsense Ichigo simply grabbed Rutoshi from his head and handed her over to Karin.

"This is Rutoshi. She's a… friend of mine who I've been taking care of since… this morning. She's a special kind of spirit I just don't know why or how. Unfortunately I can't take her with me this afternoon so I'm going to ask you to take care of her ok?"

Karin was surprised, but not too disturbed the the cutie in her hands. She had been seeing spirits for a while but chose to ignore them, looks like she couldn't ignore this one.

"Ichigo, I can hold her just fine so why don't we let Yuzu hold her and see if that helps?"

Yuzu had been drawn off from the conversation for a bit, the fact that she couldn't see spirits while both of her siblings could was a sore point. It rarely was an issue because she couldn't see them, but whenever it came up in conversation she was just lost and alone. But to hear that Karin thought she could hold their little friend…

"Oh please Ichi-nii! Please let me hold her I'll be super careful!"

"I was actually thinking the same thing since I think you two would get along better than Karin and her anyway. Hold out your hands…"

Eagerly she followed the instruction. The look of joyful wonder that spread across her face as she felt a small weight fill her hands could have lit up Tokyo for a decade. She flinched a bit as she felt the weight move up her left arm, grab onto her hair, and settle into her head, but quickly recovered when Ichigo didn't react.

"Oh I think she likes you." Ichigo chuckled.

He the grabbed their hands and led them the rest of the way home. All the while Yuzu enthusiastically asked Rutoshi various yes/no questions. When they got to their hose Ichigo told them to stand a couple of feet away while he opened the door.

"Yaargh!" yelled Isshin as he flew through the door feet first in an attempt to lay out his son.

Having truly expected it this time Ichigo grabbed his old man by the legs, lifted him up over his head, and slammed him into the concrete sidewalk.

Silence reigned as Isshin lay twitching on the ground, a small pool of blood growing beneath him. Karin finally broke it by saying, "Stupid Dad, why are you like this before entering the house and going to her room.

Yuzu, while wanting to help her father, decided to follow her sister, after all, she had a passenger she desperately wanted to see.

Ichigo, feeling no pity at all for his father, went inside in order to change, but not before locking the door.

~GB~

 **AN: Okie-Dokie. For some absurd reason I thought this chapter was much shorter than it actually was so I ended up wasting about three days, not uploading this when I could have done it very easily and quickly.**

 **I hope you guys like Rutoshi. For you OC haters, I understand, I also hate OCs, but she's definitely going to be less of a character and more of a mascot for a long time before, and if, I do anything with her.**

 **Uhh… don't really know what to say. Isn't weird that all shonen protagonists are so young? Ichigo, Naruto, and Goku go through some intense things for what is essentially still children and Naruto is the inly one with an excuse. 15, 13, and 12 respectively. They age with their audience thank GOD, but still…**

 **Also, I've been meaning to read Yu Yu Hakusho since it's basically Bleach. Other way around since Yu Yu is much older but still…**

 **Anyway please tell me what you thought about this chapter and what you think in general, I absolutely love reading comments especially the thoughtful and insightful ones.**

 **Thx ;)**


	4. Getting Down to Business

**AN: As per the usual I always start writing the next chapter immediately so I usually am working without feedback… sorry.**

 **I also did Chad a disservice since he has been shown to be smarter than Ichigo when it comes to academics. I don't want to go back and change things so I'll probably just give him a level and bring him up to seven intelligence and pretend nothing happened.**

 **So here's the deal… I hated… pretty much everything post time-skip when it comes to Bleach. I don't remember much of it well nor do I really care to. The Fullbringers thing felt like filler and it was kind of boring. The Quincy arc was a heaping load of shit from the very beginning. You introduce a GOD character, not just god like or like Zeus and Odin and Ra, but basically an evil version of Jesus and you expect me to care? Yhwach's power was so absurd and immense that there was no way the ending could be satisfying, it HAD to be some deus ex machina. At no point in that arc was I like, "Oh yeah, Ichigo's got the power he can do it." I wasn't surprised when Yhwach bitch slapped him like it was nothing at the very end. Sure, there were definitely some very cool enemies in the Wandenreich, visually Tite Kubo did his thing and it was great! Zaraki vs Unohana HOLY FUCKING SHIT! That shit's still crazy to me. Zaraki's Shikai and Bankai were cool too. I can go on and on about the cool things that happen, but they're just small pieces of a shitty puzzle.**

 **Anyway all that to say I'm throwing Yhwach in the trash and redesigning Quincy society and history as whole using some parts of the canon information.**

~GB~

Chapter 3 Summary: Ichigo fights a hollow. Ichigo wakes up to find a chibi. Ichigo talks to Uryu. Ichigo learns nothing about the chibi. Ichigo talks to Tatsuki. Ichigo goes home with his sisters and gives them the chibi.

~GB~

Chapter 4: Getting Down to Business

Now decked out in loose sweats Ichigo arrived in Kahaya Park at around 3:30. Glasses guy was easy enough to find because for some absurd reason he chose to wear his pure white getup.

"Uhh… hey Ishida." He really wanted to taunt him for his getup, but for once Ichigo kept his mouth shut. "Where are we going to do this?"

"So you've finally arrived? Good. I already set up a private location for your lesson."

'Why on earth did he say… all that?' Wondered Ichigo."Sounds good. Let's get to it."

Ichigo followed Uryū into a small wooded area of the park, he tried to see how Uryū had made the location private, but he couldn't see anything obvious like danger signs or police tape. Finally they got to a small clearing that was probably fifteen feet in diameter. When they were stepping into it was when Ichigo noticed something different.

 **You have entered a Training Dungeon. Death is impossible.**

"Woah." It felt like he was stepping into a bubble, solid but malleable. It was an odd sensation. 'That is a pretty nice dungeon, I hope I can get that

"Oh? You felt that? You have more potential than I thought. I wasn't feeling reishi barriers until I had been training for several years."

Ichigo was pretty sure it had everything to do with the game, but he accepted the compliment. "Thanks I guess, but how'd ya' make this thing?"

"Well that information is a related to the very basics of what I want to teach you. You see, my family has a pretty long history of being Quincies, so we have a lot of these available to us." Ishida held up a small white cross. "This is quite simply called a Quincy Cross, it's what we Quincies use to focus reishi and create our Heilig Bogens or, in Japanese, bows. I am using several crosses to set up the barrier which they do by constantly absorbing reishi and then releasing it in a specific pattern. It's a difficult thing to do and was one of the only high level techniques my grandfather taught me before he passed and even then I had to do a lot of research before I got it down perfectly."

"So this is a technique? Like making the bow?"

"Yes and no, it's more like setting up a complicated tent using the crosses as the spokes and the reishi they emit as the walls. They can also be used as traps for hollows since strong ones can become physical, but beyond that I haven't seen much more use for them in my research. Does this make sense?"

"Yeah I think it does, less like a skill and more like a trade."

"Exactly. With all that information out of the way, I'd like to give you one of the training crosses children used when they began their training." Ishida passed Ichigo a small cross. "Now before you say anything about how it looks I know for a fact that it works since it the one I first used when I was a kid."

That's exactly what Ichigo had been thinking. While the cross Ishida had wasn't ornate it was better looking than the two pieces of wood that looked stapled together that Ichigo was holding.

"…Ok, I guess…" Ichigo said, clearly unconvinced.

"Trust me I know what I'm talking about. Anyway, let's begin the first lesson. I want you to sit in a meditative position and try to feel the reishi around you, don't be discouraged if you don't feel it right now." He lowered his voice as Ichigo followed his instruction. "One of the reasons Quincy training starts young is because most of the years of five through ten are spent trying to feel the reishi in the world around you. I'm not too shabby if I do say so myself, it only took me until I was eight to feel it. Since you're so in tune with your reiryoku I doubt it will take too long, but don't feel bad if you can't figure it out in the first week or two. Once you get that down I can begin teaching you how to-"

 **Through a special action you have created an ability.**

 **[Active/Passive Utility] Spiritual Awareness Lvl. 1**

 **Reishi, Reiatsu, and Reiryoku. Those are all real words that describe real similar things. With spiritual sensing you will be able to differentiate and understand these three forms of the same thing. It is also vital to your awareness when fighting spiritual beings such as hollows and shinigami. This ability is both passive and active because you will always be able to passively sense the reishi that makes up the world around you, but to be aware of the reiatsu of others the ability will need to be actively used. At high levels perhaps more things will be sensed.**

 **RK Cost: 10 RK per minute per meter away from the user**

"Got it." stated a calm Ichigo as he stood up from his meditative position and discreetly swiped away the screen that had popped up. "What now?"

"Wha-wha… how did you do it so quickly… I… I said you would be gifted but this is ridiculous!" stuttered the flabbergasted Uryu.

"Meh." shrugged Ichigo.

"What do you mean "meh"? How about this, I want to to clothes your eyes and I'm going to move around. I will then stand still for an entire minute at a random location, then I will ask you were I was, if you get it right three times I'll accept that you're some sort of prodigy. Ok?"

A quest popped up indicating exactly what Uryu said when he finished talking which Ichigo easily accepted. "Yeah, sure, sounds good." 'And this reward is a free ten levels to the ability, I can definitely dig on this.'

Uryu threw his hands up into the air at the hooligan's nonchalant answer. "Fine, close your eyes."

Just as he promised once Ichigo closed his eyes Uryu began walking away, it's was child's play to Ichigo when Uryu stopped a mere three meters behind him at the edge of the small clearing they were in. Just as the minute passed Ichigo spoke up.

"You were about three meters directly behind me at the edge of this little clearing. Oh and I found those crosses you placed, they're like little pinpricks of light."

"Hmph… very good Kurosaki, let's make this a bit more difficult."

Uryu then walked fifteen meters into the woods north-northwest of Ichigo, costing him a "whopping" 300 RK. Just as Uryu returned Ichigo once again didn't give him the opportunity to speak.

"You were about fifteen meters that way." Ichigo pointed exactly towards Uryu's position without opening his eyes.

Uryu could feel a headache coming on, Ichigo's prowess was genuinely ridiculous and it made him more than just a little bit jealous. 'Fine! If he's so good… I'll have him do something even I can't do…'

"Alright then Kurosaki, last exercise, if you do this we can start on creating a bow for you."

"Sweet, I can't wait!" But Ichigo didn't anticipate that he'd have to extend his sensing range to 250 meters when Uryu suddenly jogged to the eastern entrance of the park they were in.

'Damn Uryu, that's 2,500 RK per minute I'm spending here! Though… I guess I've got more than enough. Still If I had a normal amount of RK this would be impossible!'

Even with absurdly large pool of reiryoku Ichigo almost ran out by the time Uryu returned.

'Bet he has no idea where I was. I have been training for years I can barely sense further the edge of the little forest we're in and even that completely drains me of reiryoku.'

But without missing a beat Ichigo spoke up, "You went all the way to the eastern entrance to the park." 'But you got me five levels to my skill ya shit and… the cost only went down by one? Sheesh. Imma need those ten levels.'

Uryu wanted to scream, but his years of being a well mannered and well spoken young man stopped him from succumbing to his baser instincts and doing so, instead he took a deep breath and fixed his glasses.

"That's genuinely amazing Kurosaki, I have to admit doing what you did… is outside of my capabilities."

Hearing that made Ichigo do the slightest, most inoffensive of fist bumps. 'Suck on that glasses.'

"Yes, wonderful I know. Anyway, as I promised we will begin to work on you acquiring a bow. Of course it is totally possible that you will be unable to do so, after all being a Quincy has to do with blood, but if my assumption is correct you may be similar to the progenitors of our kind."

The statement definitely through Ichigo for a loop. "Really you think I'm like the first Quincies?"

"Well, Quincies are basically humans with a very high level of Reiryoku and Spiritual Awareness and some very special techniques for slaying hollows. It's my belief that long ago someone, somewhere with a high amount of spiritual awareness had to defend himself or others from a hollow and rose to the task successfully. I also believe this event happened many times in many places and eventually someone decided to cultivate these abilities and create a community of such people so that they could slay hollows wherever they may find them. And it is through these people that the Quincies were born."

"...Huh. Nice history lesson and all, but there were a lot of "believes" in there. Don't you have history books about this sort of stuff?"

The question made Uryu sigh sadly. "It's true that we have some history books, but I believe you misjudged the literature on Quincies available to me. There are maybe thirty books in my family library solely about Quincies and only a tenth of them are history books, there rest are about training and our techniques many of which I unfortunately am incapable of practicing. The only things these books speak of is the fact that at one point the Quincies were a faction of the Roman Catholic Church, the great war between the Quincies and the Shinigami that occured a thousand years ago, consequently wiping out most of Quincy kind, and of notable Quincy heroes and saints. None of the three spoke of the origins of Quincy kind nor do they speak of the time after the war a thousand years ago. Another belief of mine is that in wiping out the Quincies during the war the Shinigami also destroyed much of our literature… it's one of the many reasons I hate Shinigami so much…"

It was silent for only a moment before Ichigo rudely said, "Woah dude, cool stuff and all, but I'm not looking for a history lesson. I get it you hate the Shinigami, but let's get a move on." To be honest Ishida's quiet anger and his brooding just annoyed him, after all it's not like Ishida could do anything about it right then.

It took a moment to collect himself, but eventually Uryu calmed down. "I suppose you are correct. This isn't about me unloading all of my thoughts to you. Now that you can feel the reishi around you I want you to absorb it into your self and mix it with your… massive amount of reiryoku. It's not the easiest thing to describe. Just try to… suck the reishi into yourself."

This was slightly more difficult than simply sensing reishi, but using Ishida's description Ichigo simply tried to exert his will over the reishi around him and bring it into his body. Nothing happened for the first few minutes, but eventually something just clicked for him and he felt the reishi enter his body and mix with his reiryoku.

 **Ping!**

 **Through a special action you have created an ability.**

 **[Active Utility] Reishi Absorption Lvl. 1**

 **A vital skill of the Quincies as it allows them to bolster their reiryoku reserves so they can fight longer and harder. The user can only absorb reishi equal to the amount of reiryoku that they naturally have within themselves. Absorbing more will cause damage to the user possibly resulting in death. At higher levels magnificent things can be done.**

 **Absorption Rate: 10 RK per minute**

'What the hell? Only ten RK a minute, that's ridiculously slow! I'm going to have to grind the hell out of this to make it useful.' Ichigo thought before standing. "I've got it… though I'm kind of slow…"

"That's fine, it's always like that in the beginning. It will take a lot of practice before you can fill yourself with reishi quickly. For you… it might take years due to your absurd reiryoku levels. Anyway, now that you've got that underway try and put some of your reiryoku into the cross. And I do mean a very small amount, I don't want you blowing up the cross."

Keeping **reishi absorption** active Ichigo tried visualizing the act of putting some of his immense reiryoku into the fragile cross in his hands. Immediately he felt an ocean which, while understandable, was a bit annoying. 'Kami above, this is going to be like trying to fill a teaspoon with a ten gallon water jug.' Manipulating his reiryoku directly was slightly different from forcing it through his body like when he used **reinforcement**. He didn't really have to think to hard on it since he was using huge chunks of his reiryoku at a time but now he had to take only a time bit, but sustain it. Then Ichigo remembered the time his dad taught how to siphon a pool with a hose when you had no pump. Using that experience as a reference Ichigo imagined a hose and mentally "sucked" on it making it start the siphoning process. Unfortunately Ichigo learned that gravity doesn't work properly, or even how you wish it to, in a mental depiction of a spiritual resource and the hose did nothing. Attempting a new approach Ichigo simply lifted an amount of reiryoku equal to one unit from the ocean. It was quite literally a drop. He then repeated the process over and over until he had a blob of 100 RK floating above the ocean. Comfortable with the process Ichigo let the blob fall back into the ocean and tried to do the same process, but continuously this time. It took several minutes, but eventually a very thin stream of reiryoku could be seen lifting out of Ichigo's ocean and forming a blob a few feet above. Rejoicing at his success Ichigo let the blob fall apart once again before repeating the process ten times more to be sure he could do it on command. Only when he was leaving did he notice the ocean getting gradually larger. 'Oh yeah, **reishi absorption**.'

"Ok Ishida, I think I got it." Ichigo then connected a tiny stream of reiryoku from the ocean within him to the cross in his left hand through his left arm. Almost instantly a small bow maybe two feet in length sprang from the cross making the cross an easy place to grop the new bow.

"Bravo Kurosaki. Now as you can no doubt tell there is no obvious string for you to grab so that can use the bow. The reason the training cross is so large is so that the "string" is easier to grab and draw. The short ends of the cross are nestled comfortable between your thumb, index finger, middle finger, and ring finger are they not?"

Ichigo simply nodded in the affirmative.

"Good. Now look closely, there should be a small string of reiryoku connecting the ends of the bow that goes over the long end of the cross. I want you to grab it and draw it about a foot and release the string."

Ichigo followed the instructions to the letter and was only mildly surprised when nothing shot out from the bow.

"You'll notice nothing happened when you released the string, I'm sure you can now guess that creating and shooting arrows is another step in the process."

Ichigo groaned causing Uryu to smirk.

"While I understand your eagerness to learn and succeed each of these steps are fundamental to Quincy combat and must be mastered to the point of them being instinctual if you want to defend yourself and others from hollows. Slightly more importantly I'd prefer that we didn't damage any of the surroundings with our archery practice as I'm sure your arrows will pack quite the wallop. And ultimately it's been about an hour since we started and I did not prepare for you to have progressed this much as quickly as you did. Tomorrow is Friday so we should have some time after school without worrying about classes the next day. I want you to meet me at the hunting shop on block 320 after school at say… four o'clock. Sounds good?"

It took Ichigo a moment to remember how to get to 320 from his house, but he remembered that the ice cream shop his sisters liked was on the same block. "Yeah sounds good, are we going to pick out a bow?"

"Exactly, while archery for Quincies is quite different from archery as the world knows it the basics are obviously very similar. Practicing with a real bow will help you a lot for when you start practicing with your Quincy bow. Until then Kurosaki, may you have a good evening." And with that Uryu bowed and was gone.

"Well ok then… let's see what I got."

 **[Active/Passive Utility] Spiritual Awareness Lvl. 15**

 **Reishi, Reiatsu, and Reiryoku. Those are all real words that describe real similar things. With spiritual sensing you will be able to differentiate and understand these three forms of the same thing. It is also vital to your awareness when fighting spiritual beings such as hollows and shinigami. This ability is both passive and active because you will always be able to passively sense the reishi that makes up the world around you, but to be aware of the reiatsu of others the ability will need to be actively used. At high levels perhaps more things will be sensed.**

 **RK Cost: 7 RK per minute per meter away from the user**

 **[Active Utility] Reishi Absorption Lvl. 4**

 **A vital skill of the Quincies as it allows them to bolster their reiryoku reserves so they can fight longer and harder. The user can only absorb reishi equal to the amount of reiryoku that they naturally have within themselves. Absorbing more will cause damage to the user possibly resulting in death. At higher levels magnificent things can be done.**

 **Absorption Rate: 14 RK per minute**

 **[Active Combat] Reiryoku Manipulation Lvl. 2**

 **Much like a potter and his clay your reiryoku is something for you to mold and shape into whatever you so wish. Cost, durability, damage, and success rate vary depending on what you wish to construct. All Reiryoku Manipulation related abilities will be considered a subset of Reiryoku Manipulation.**

 **Successful Manipulation Chance: (2+Wis+Luk)%**

 **[Reiryoku Manipulation] Reiryoku Whip Lvl. 2**

 **A whip made of reiryoku. Can be heavily modified using your imagination.**

 **Damage: RK spent + 2**

 **Cost: RK spent + 1% of RK spent per minute**

"That's cool and all, but where's the Quincy Bow?" Befuddled, Ichigo pondered his query before remembering that weapons exist. "Duh, I bet the bow depends on the cross or something. But this game seems to have a crafting system somewhere so I bet I can make a badass bow. Anyway… it's only four, I don't have to study for any tests and homework has been a snap ever since my intelligence has increased… Maybe I can go get that gym membership I was thinking about. But I don't want to leave Ru-chan and my sister alone… what am I saying, I'm sure they're having a great time together."

In the distance explosions could be heard.

"Speaking of Ru-chan, glasses didn't say anything about noticing her on the roof during lunch. Guess he doesn't care. But he can sense reishi, shouldn't she feel like a hollow? Do people _feel_ different from each other?"

Curious, Ichigo turned on **spiritual awareness** and set it to… 'Wait, what's my RK regen looking like?' Ichigo then fiddled with the menu for a few minutes before discovering that his regen was simply one percent per minute. 'So my stats don't impact regen at all? What are they right now anyway?'

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 19**

 **HP: 540/540**

 **RK: 9,400/9,400**

 **Stats: 10**

 **Str: 20 +**

 **Vit: 27 +**

 **Dex: 35 +**

 **Int: 21 +**

 **Wis: 20 +**

 **Luck: 10 +**

 **Charm: 5 +**

 **XP: 900/7,400**

"Ok, so I got some wisdom points and one in intelligence… still regen is a flat one percent? That's whack. But that does mean that I regen 94 points of RK per minute so I can comfortably put **spiritual awareness** to thirteen meters and never, technically, lose RK. I think I'm going to just permanently do that from now on until I max out the ability… though pushing my limits seems to level my abilities up quicker… right before bed I'll try to spend all of my RK on the skill and see what happens."

Since there was no one within thirteen meters of Ichigo he didn't get to learn anything immediately, but he knew once he got going he would have to run into people eventually.

'And where am I going? I can't practice **sho** because of what Ishida said about damaging my surroundings, but I remember wanting to do something… OH YEAH! The gym!'

~GB~

There were only a few fitness centers close to Ichigo, but he knew Gold's Gym was pretty popular and nearby so he went there first. A sprinted there at his maximum speed, which was pretty fast given his dexterity boost and was there within twenty minutes. Walking in he was slightly underwhelmed by the lack of pizzaz, he had been expecting something fancy, but all he got was a single large room with around fifty machines and racks of dumbbells on the eastern wall and racks of barbells on the far wall. The reception desk was immediately to his left and was manned by a surprisingly cute, if extremely bored, young woman. Not wanting to lose his chance at huge gains Ichigo decided to put on his best high society impression before talking to the her.

"Excuse me miss, I was wondering what it would cost for a membership at this fine establishment?"

She seemed relieved by his presence, as if he had saved her from death by boredom, but she collected herself quickly and answered his question. "That information is on this paper right here." She handed Ichigo a paper with a spreadsheet indicating various prices for different lengths and membership benefits. "First off, there is a 5,000 yen sign-up fee. If you want our premium Gold membership it will cost 19,500 yen per month though you can save money by paying a full year's cost for 214,000. There is also…"

Ichigo let her prattle on and on for about twenty minutes as she gave him this clearly practiced pitch. The second he heard the exorbitant monthly fee he had checked out, but he didn't want to be rude so he endured the speech. Though his ears did perk up towards the very end.

"-but if you're only interested in a short term stay with us we do offer trial memberships that are equivalent to our Full Time memberships. One is for two weeks and costs 7,500 yen, and also exempts you from the sign-up fee, the other is for a month and costs 18,300 yen." She then paused for a moment. "So what will it be, sir?"

Ichigo couldn't help but blush at her provocative stance and avert his eyes back to the paper in front of him. 'Is she tries to… seduce me into getting a membership?' The idea that he was simply a desirable male or that the woman simply acted that way did not once cross his mind. He took a furtive glance around the gym, 'They seem to have a good amount of members…' Ichigo resisted the urge to physically shoo away the confusing train of thought. 'GAH! It doesn't matter, this shit's expensive as fuck, but the two week membership seems like a pretty good idea. After all, I doubt there will be much to gain after a week of consistent attendance. Hah! I bet I'll be lifting the heaviest weights in no time flat.'

All the while he maintained the calm and composed facade of a man weighing his options. "I believe I will be paying for the two week membership, after all, I must be sure that I want to spend all my money here."

His response caused the woman the smile brightly and retrieve a form from below her desk. "Okie-dokie, I'll just need you to fill this out, show some ID, and pay for the membership and we'll be all set."

Unthinking, Ichigo handed over his school ID and began to fill out the form, but was interrupted by the woman, whose name was Namika, or at least, that's what her name tag said. "I'm sorry sweetie, but your only fifteen years old, I'm going to need a parent to sign you up."

The new information almost made Ichigo facepalm in frustration, but he held his act together while quickly thinking of a way to get around dealing with his idiot father.

"Oh, of course, how silly of me. Unfortunately my parents aren't around at the moment and I'd prefer to not bother my father with such silly things. Perhaps you can simply… allow me to sign-up despite my age?" When he finished he discretely opened his inventory in his pocket and pulled out 50,000 yen. "It's not much," 'IT'S HALF OF MY CASH!' "But it's yours if you let me… slip on by? If it's too much of a risk I could sweeten the deal with another 50,000 next week?" It broke his heart, but he was sure he'd be earning a lot through slaying mobs.

Namika's struggle was quite evident on her face as she aggressively chewed her lower lip. 'On one hand I could get fired, but on the other hand this is my uncle's gym and he probably wouldn't fire me over this. Not to mention 100,000 yen is a little more than what I make in two weeks… and this kid won't be here long at all so there's a good chance nothing will happen. And with all this generosity I could give him the secret membership and maybe wrangle a little extra out of him.' Decision made Namika grabbed the cash and beckoned Ichigo to the back room.

Ichigo didn't know how to take the turn of events, though the secrecy did encourage him. Namika took a seat at a plush chair behind a nice looking wooden desk and gestured for him to take a seat at one of the two chairs in front of the desk. The atmosphere felt slightly tense and Ichigo was slowly becoming less sure of bribing this woman. She proceeded to do a few lazy spins in her seat before intensely focusing on him.

"I could lose my job over this you know… but your… donation is quite generous. I agree to the 50,000 yen payment, but you won't be signing anything, let me handle that. I'm going to give you this card," she then took out a black and gold card from a desk drawer and handed it to Ichigo, "in recognition of your generosity. For the next two weeks instead of working out on the floor with everyone else you're going to show that card to whomever is manning the desk. They will then bring you in here and lock the room before bringing you…"

Namika stood up and opened a small portrait that was hanging on the western wall. Behind it was a combination lock that didn't seem to open anything obvious, she then fiddled with the lock for a full minute before Ichigo heard a loud click that resulted in the entire wall sliding into the ground. Shell-shocked Ichigo barely registered Namika grabbing his hand and leading him down a long, dark staircase before stopping at a nondescript, black iron door. She then began inputting a rather long code into a keypad just right of the door. Finally the door slid open, surprisingly smoothly, revealing to Ichigo a workout gym like non he'd ever seen.

Immediately he noticed that the new gym was immense, it was easily over 300 meter long and 100 meter wide. Then he realized that the black walls and the floors seemed to glow with a golden shine. The light fixtures were odd in that instead of normal white light they shone the same gold that seemed to come from the walls. From the entrance to the far wall a ten foot wide path existed acting like a main thoroughfare for the gym. To his immediate left there was a large group of machines that were oriented towards arm workouts, to his right the machines seemed oriented towards legs and not one of them were the same. They all seemed comfortably spaced so that people could meander through them without restriction and the machines themselves seemed to shine. That section stopped around thirty meters in at a small street that led to water fountains on both sides, somehow Ichigo knew the water there was absolutely delicious. After that the the left were rows and rows of barbells and barbell style machines, and on the right, rows of dumbbells and kettlebells. This section stretched for around fifty meters before once again being cut off by a small street with water fountains. Beyond that the next 100 meters were dominated by four beautiful basketball courts, one of which had inhumanely tall hoops. Finally the last stretch of the golden room held two pools, the one on the left was a normal rectangular pool even if it was 100 meters by forty, but the one on the right was shaped like an oval river and seemed to be flowing quite quickly. Finally a locker room could be seen on the far wall, though it only had one large entrance.

Without realizing it Ichigo had sat there and gaped for five long minutes before he was brought back to the world of the living by a once again peppy Namika. "This is our ultra exclusive location for God Tier members. Something to note is that there are two doors that are difficult to see on the eastern and western walls in the very middle of the gym. The eastern door leads to a special weight room for strong man competitors and the western door leads to a large track that is lined with various running machines, we even have a treadmill designed to test cars. Anyway, as long as you have that card with you no one will ask questions about who you are which is the biggest reason I gave it to you. Normally we ask for a 100,000,000 yen fee for such a thing since it's for life, but since your membership will be temporary I won't charge that, though I will obviously be asking for that card back at the end of the two weeks. Aside from that you have to be comfortable with a mix gender locker room since we have so few God members it seemed pointless to separate it. Normally you would be able to bring any number of guests with you, but once again under these unique circumstances I'm going to ask you to not do that. I think that's all… oh, the locker room is absolutely amazing and most of our patrons claim this place gives them back their youth. I mean it feels great to work out here but… whatever. Enjoy yourself there is obviously no restricted time here, we even have around twenty glorious rooms in the back for overnight stay though I suggest you refrain from doing that." And with that she was gone.

It took Ichigo another ten minutes to pick his jaw up of the ground and finally step into the gym proper. He then got one last surprise.

 **You have entered a Sacred Training Dungeon: The Dungeon of Gains!**

 **While you are here all stat physical stat gains are made much easier and experience is gained from exercising. Stamina does not exist.**

"Thank you sweet Kami for this glorious gift!" Ichigo cried as he fell to his knees. "This is going to be fucking awesome!"

~GB~

 **AN: Cliffhanger? This just felt like a good place to stop because Ichigo will be spending some time loving this gym. This gym might also have a little something to do with canon stuff in The Gamer manhwa so watch out for that if I decide to go through with it.**

 **I hope you guys like it. Please leave thoughtful reviews.**

 **Oh, especially about my angle on the Quincies, I'm basically rebuilding them and I'd love input on how I should go about it because what I wrote here is basically all I have.**

 **Thx ;)**


	5. Too Many Points

**AN: So… I'm writing this before even posting chapter four because I finished it so quickly and wanted to give chapter three some time to simmer. I don't think it's a bad thing per se, but I like addressing questions and comments from the previous chapter here and I can't right now. Whatever really.**

 **I don't know if anyone cares, but I didn't forget that Ichigo has the Asauchi and Basic Katana equipped, he did.**

 **Let's see what this chapter holds. Cuz I don't know, I don't plan these things at all.**

~GB~

Chapter 5: Too Many Points

Ichigo was quite literally a kid in a candy store. He spent the first two hours trying out each and every machine in the main area, luckily they all had instructions somewhere on the machine so he was even able to use the weird ones he'd never seen before. All the while it was extremely obvious that the special effect was working, but he wanted to keep how much he gained a surprise until he went home.

Done with the machines Ichigo sauntered on up to a barbell machine and put on 180 pounds, with the bar that came to 225. 'Alright, I think that this will be easy, so let's see.' Firmly grasping the bar in the manner that he remembered being taught in a random gym class Ichigo lifted the barbell and did one rep. 'Cake! Felt like lifting up a baby. But I'm guessing that endurance and vitality go hand in hand so I'll do… fifty reps and see how I feel.' Fifty reps later Ichigo barely felt a strain on either his biceps or triceps. 'More weight then.' Throwing on ninety more Ichigo did ten reps at 315. "Man… ok, now I'm starting to feel it, but this game is broken, so I'm going to pump out reps 'til I can't any more and then do some more."

At 120 reps Ichigo's arms gave out and the barbell fell on his chest only barely knocking the wind out of him, it didn't even do damage. But Ichigo was determined to do more so he grabbed the barbell once more and through the burning pain in his arms he eked out ten more reps, just barely putting the barbell back onto the machine. It only took a minute of rest for Ichigo to feel like he was in peak condition again and when he opened his eyes he was greeted by a pleasant blue box.

 **Through a special action you have created an ability.**

 **[Active Combat] Limit Break Lvl. 1**

 **You have reached the limits of human capability and through a will seen only once a generation you pushed even further beyond to succeed in your task. Limit Break increases damage output and finesse by over stimulating the body, but doing so also leaves the player vulnerable and this ability has a high cost.**

 **Doubles Dexterity**

 **Damage Increase: 20%**

 **Damage Received Increase: 20%**

 **Cost: 10% HP and 1 HP per second**

'Damn… did not expect that, I just thought I'd get some crazy stat boosts, bit this is… I don't know. I'm sure it's great if I want to end a fight extremely quickly or need to run away, but man that's a high cost. I think I'm going to put that one on the back burner and only use it in case of emergencies.' "Back to the gains."

Grasping the barbell once again it was extremely evident to Ichigo that he was going to need to increase the weight again, but just to be sure he did ten reps. "Man, oh man, this is fucking great." He threw on ninety more pounds. Once again it was more difficult, but not impossible. Curious about his limits Ichigo threw on another fifty pounds. 455 pounds proved to be the very limit of his capabilities as he was only able to do ten reps before feeling exhausted. Unfortunately the weight was still more difficult than the first time he tried 315 pounds.

"Huh… so repetition and endurance are definitely playing a part." With that in mind Ichigo took off the extra fifty pounds and did as many reps as he could before tiring out. That number turned out to be 100 reps. "Ok, I'm sensing a pattern here." 

His weight was reaching into the 500+ range so he moved over to a special bar he noticed earlier, to be honest the only difference he noted was that it seemed to shine. Today was a day for curiosity and Ichigo didn't hesitate to observe the bar.

 **Enchanted Steel Weightlifting Bar**

 **This barbell is of the highest quality available in the world, even so it will begin to bend and warp at weights exceeding 1,500 pounds. Luckily a well thinking mage thought to create permanent enchantments to such bars to allow them to exceed their capacity though the permanent aspect restricts its capabilities slightly. This bar is capable of holding 5,000 pounds before it would bend or break. The bar weighs sixty pounds.**

 **Damage: (50+Str)Blunt + 20 Magical**

"So there's magic? Magic is real? What? No no no no no no no no no, not now. Maybe another time. Right now I've got a bar I won't be breaking any time soon and I best use it."

But when he went to grab the plates to put on the bar he was given another surprise, they were solid gold! The weights themselves were also much higher, what looked like a forty-five pound weight was actually 125 pounds and so on and so forth. Much like the other plate sets there were six different weights: 125, 95, 70, 30, 15, and 5 pounds. It was very easy for him to get exactly 500 pounds since all it took were two 125 pound plates, two 95 pound plates, and the bar itself.

This process repeated itself until half past eight. Halfway to his training Ichigo realized there were bigger plates on a second rack behind the one he was using, it had ten 500 pound plates! As excited as he was about the discovery of bigger weights the reality of diminishing returns weighed heavily upon Ichigo's mind. It could also be that his vitality wasn't high enough, which is what he was hoping, but there was a very real chance he would reach a wall in strength. He time he went up in weight it got a little bit harder to reach 100 reps, his second to last set of 1,500 pounds he had to cut off at fifty because he could not handle any more. He attempted it again and hit 100, but the fact that he failed at all was extremely frustration.

Just as Ichigo was leaving the special weight rack, after shelving all the weights in their designated locations like a responsible gym member, frustrated and fearing for the future Ichigo finally noticed a large text box that he had "somehow" missed while single-mindedly training.

 **Congratulations!**

 **For bringing your Strength stat to 100 or more you have been given the opportunity to choose between a number of Strength related perks! Choose wisely for this will only happen again when the stat reaches 500, 1000, and every thousand afterward. This will happen for all stats when they reach such milestones.**

 **Herculean**

 **You are like the mighty god Hercules. Wherever you go people compare you to his awesome might!**

 **All strength gains are much easier.**

 **Heavy Weapons Expert**

 **Weapons are something you know and love, but maces, greataxes, hammers, greatswords, and the like hold a special place in your heart.**

 **Any and all weapons that scale primarily with the Strength stat will permanently deal triple damage.**

 **Strength in Numbers**

 **Your friends and allies are your strength. You rely on them just as much as they rely on you and that is something beautiful.**

 **When in combat the strength stat is multiplied by the number of allies you have.**

"Well what do we have here? I guess I now know that I busted through 100 points in strength, but what to pick? This place is kind of awesome and does the job of the **Herculean** perk and more, but down the road who knows what I'll be doing. It's not like I can live here what with responsibilities and my sisters being alive… ugh, that didn't sound good. I know for a fact that I'll be grinding my balls off to earn the money for a permanent God Tier membership. I wonder if Charisma is a physical stat? Anyway, I don't really see myself having a whole bunch of friends fighting by my side anytime soon… unless Ru-chan and Ishida count, I can totally see them being with me while fighting a hollow at some point so… dammit, but the **Heavy Weapons Expert** perk is so damn cool! I could swing around giant hammers and eight foot long greatswords like in fantasy games and it'd be so damn cool! Unfortunately, the Katana and Asauchi are dexterity based weapons and I have a crazy feeling that the Asauchi will be the shit so **Heavy Weapons Expert** is out… maybe next time. **Herculean** keeps the long game in mind but… I've been talking to myself too much. This entire time I've been talking aloud to absolutely no one and I'm still fucking doing it… I need someone to be in on this game with me, but again, who knows when that'll happen? Ishida is out, we're not friends. Chad's the best, but we're not talky… I wasn't talky like this before the Game started. Orihime…" Ichigo laughed aloud, "No way. Keigo and Mizuiro are definitely not cut out for this. That leaves… Tatsuki? She's probably the best person to deal with all this nonsense even if she doesn't play video games a lot I know she loves fighting games to death. Hell she was just bragging about how awesome Tekken 4 is since she bought it the other day. Hmm… but we haven't been close in forever. We are training together Saturday so maybe… man I don't know."

Mentally exhausted by his conundrum Ichigo sat on the bench he had been using and simply stared at nothing. After five minutes of silent contemplation and reflection Ichigo made up his mind.

" **Herculean**. I'm guessing it works even while in here so I could possibly reach 500 before the two weeks are out. After all I gained at least eighty points in the course of two hours and if I have a ridiculously high strength stat there's no way I won't be able to defeat whatever I come across… right?" He asked an empty room. "Either way **Herculean** means I can get **Strength in Numbers** and other perks sooner rather than later. I choose **Herculean**."

Nothing happened, when he made his choice, the screen simply disappeared. Ichigo had been hoping for some fanfare after all the turmoil the decision put him through.

"Huuu… whatever. Time to check out that track."

Just as promised the western door opened into another huge room that held a large six lane track and a plethora of running machines. And in the very middle proudly stood a huge treadmill that looked like it was from the future.

"That's gotta be the car treadmill or whatever she called it. I don't want to break any of the equipment as I get faster… at least I hope I get faster, so I'll just start with the car one."

Hopping onto the large machine Ichigo was pleasantly surprised to find the knobs and buttons simple to understand and straightforward. He decided to start off simple at a brisk ten mph (16 kmh). He quickly discovered that that speed was far too easy for him so he slowly cranked it up to fifteen mph (24 kmh) which felt challenging but not exhausting. After thirty or so minutes of that pace Ichigo couldn't help but notice that instead of becoming more and more tired and needing a break the run was becoming easier. It got to the point that he felt that the initial jog at ten mph (16 kmh) was more difficult than his run now! So over the course of two hours Ichigo slowly sped up whenever a peed became to easy for him. By the time he was done, which was around half past ten, he was sprinting at 30 mph (48 kmh) without the slightest sign of fatigue, he was even breathing hard! This time he was notably less surprised when he got off the treadmill and found himself face to face with two large blue screens.

 **Congratulations!**

 **For bringing your Vitality stat to 100 or more you have been given the opportunity to choose between a number of Vitality related perks!**

 **Can't Keep Me Down!**

 **You've got people to see and places to go, you ain't got time to be regenerating health!**

 **Doubles health regen as well as health received from healing over time spells**

 **Beefy Boy**

 **You never know when you will walk into a nuclear warhead and blow it up, so you have to be prepared.**

 **Doubles health points gained from vitality points**

 **Stone Flesh**

 **Become like the mighty castle walls of yore and hold strong against any and all attacks that may come your way!**

 **Damage Taken Reduced by 5% Permanently**

 **Grants access to the Active Combat Ability [Stone Flesh]**

 **[Active Combat] Stone Flesh Lvl. 1**

 **Become like the mighty castle walls of yore and hold strong against any and all attacks that may come your way! But be warned, there is a great cost to this remarkable skill.**

 **Damage Reduction: 50%**

 **RK Cost: 100 RK per second**

 **Dexterity is reduced by half while ability is active**

 **Congratulations!**

 **For bringing your Dexterity stat to 100 or more you have been given the opportunity to choose between a number of Dexterity related perks!**

 **Fleet Foot**

 **You've got a need for speed and the capability to outrun the fastest of muscle cars.**

 **Your speed is now double what your dexterity stat suggests.**

 **Instant Reflexes**

 **Not unlike a spider related superhero you can feel things moments before they happen to you. After all, the difference between life and death is mere seconds.**

 **You get Spidey Senses**

 **Lightning Punch**

 **Harnessing the mighty power of the god Zeus you will smite your enemies!**

 **Learn Active Combat Ability [Lightning Punch]**

 **[Active Combat] Lightning Punch Lvl. 1**

 **Faster than the eye can see you will strike with a lightning enhanced punch. Be warned! This ability may cause tunnel vision.**

 **Cost: 1000 RK**

 **Charge Time: 5 seconds**

 **Damage: 500 Lightning + Dex Piercing**

"This is amazing." Holding the two screens side by side Ichigo took a couple of minutes to just admire all that he had achieved. "Wow… But I've got decisions to make. The Vitality one is pretty easy I think since I'm technically doubling my regen by doubling my health and I don't think I'll have people healing me any time soon. So **Beefy Boy** it is. Dexterity is a bit harder… and what are spidey senses? I mean, they're obviously split second premonitions, but a spider related superhero?" Ichigo couldn't leave the question alone, but also didn't have an answer. "Whatever. **Fleet Foot** kinda sucks and **Lightning Punch** looks awesome and kind of sounds like Kakashi's Chidori in that Naruto manga. **Lightning punch** is also a good reminder that there are different types of damage in this game… but **Instant Reflexes** is just way too awesome for me to pass up."

Decisions made Ichigo went left the track room and made his way down to the locker room. A bit shy Ichigo could not help but scout out he area to make sure there weren't any women around before stripping away his clothes, quite quickly, and looking around for a place to put them. Some quick investigating made Ichigo quite frustrated because he discovered a small room full of exercise clothes of various styles and sizes. Realizing he would have to shower and put on stinky, sweaty clothes Ichigo decided to suck it up and return home to shower. Just as was he was putting on his boxers he was startled by a spiritual presence twenty meters away. He had kept **spiritual awareness** active since he left the park and had been subconsciously increasing it's range while still not spending reiryoku thus giving him a twenty meter range.

What was surprising about this woman, men and women felt slightly different for some reason, was how immense her reiatsu was in comparison to a normal person. Ichigo had sensed so many normal people on his way to the gym that he knew how tiny their presences were, then he had spent almost seven hours sensing absolutely no one besides the unique reishi of the training dungeon which had quickly faded to background noise after the first hour, but this woman was like the sun to the point where he wanted to turn off his **spiritual awareness**! The most disturbing thing by far was the fact that she was unquestionably non-human. Ishida had felt mostly human with an odd sharp edge that made him distinct, but not inhuman. This woman felt… Ichigo wasn't quite sure how she felt, even though he was sensing spirits it was like feeling a ghost. She was cold and… not there? It was weird. Ichigo had spent so long considering the woman's presence that he was still standing in his boxers when she walked in.

Ichigo couldn't help but gawk at her as he took in her magnificent form. The first thing that shocked him was her dark skin, the only other person he knew with any sort of color was Chad and Chad was more deeply tanned than dark skinned, but Rutoshi's skin was darker. Immediately his thoughts turned towards her glorious figure which was easy to see as all she wore was a skimpy two piece bikini. She quite easily put Orihime to shame in the body department though part of that had to be her mature aura. She looked young, maybe in her mid twenties, but she held herself with a cat-like grace that sent shivers up Ichigo's teenage spine. It took him a long time to realize she had stopped walking to look at him. Finally meeting her eyes Ichigo was once again floored by how beautiful her golden irises were which caused the woman to giggle.

'Well, well, well. Isshin's boy grew up quite… fit.' Yoruichi wasn't the biggest fan of being gawked at, much less by fifteen year old boys who were probably more interested in sports and video games than women, but she let Ichigo's gaze linger without protest. After all she was in a rather revealing bikini and it was probably the first time the boy had seen such a magnificent woman outside of porn magazines.

"S-s-sorry for staring ma'am." Stuttered a red-faced Ichigo. "I was, uh, just leaving. Sorry." He then actively used **fast equip** to remove himself from the uncomfortable confrontation as quickly as possible.

The apology got a full bellied guffaw out of Yoruichi. "That's fine kid, I know I'm an absolute wonder." With that she began to leave, but not without saying on last thing. "Be sure to tell me if you're spending the night." And with a sultry look unlike any Ichigo had ever seen, she was gone.

Fully dressed, but still feeling naked, Ichigo expanded his **spiritual awareness** to keep tabs on the woman. He didn't leave until he was sure she was swimming in one of the pools, his sex addled mind was too unfocused to remember which side of the gym what which pool, and even then his exit was a fast one.

Once he was outside the of the normal Gold's Gym Ichigo took a deep breath and reorganized his thoughts. 'Kami she was hot! But running into another sexy woman is definitely possible while I'm here so I've got to get over it… why didn't my Gamer's Mind perk do anything? Dammit. Also! She wasn't human. But she looked human. Why? How? She's not a Quincy because if Ishida is anything to go off of they feel mostly human. I doubt she's a hollow for so many reasons. That leaves… shinigami? Did I just meet a shinigami? Huh…'

 **For making logical connections and coming to reasonable conclusions your Int and Wis have gone up by 1.**

Ichigo wasn't quite sure what to do with the information. Maybe she could teach him… shinigami stuff? Maybe she was just there, a cool NPC that won't do much. Either way it was almost midnight and he had to get home and do his homework.

~GB~

Running at nearly 30 mph (48 kmh) was a surreal experience. On the treadmill it didn't feel like anything special, but on the nearly empty streets he could feel the wind flowing around him. He felt like a kid when he would stick his head out of the car and try to breath. But above all it made him want to get even faster, what would it be like when he could run at 100+ mph (161+ kmh)?

At the speed he was moving it took him less than a minute to get home where he was finally able to take a shower. Before settling in to finish his homework and go to sleep Ichigo poked his head into his sisters' shared bedroom to see if he could find Rutoshi. To his surprise the tiny hollow with blue hair was sound asleep on top of Karin. The sight was adorable and Ichigo had no wish to disturb them so he slowly closed the door and went back into his room. Once there he did the one thing he was desperately waiting to do since he got his first stat notification.

"Stats."

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 32**

 **HP: 4,880/4,880**

 **RK: 28,600/28,600**

 **Stats: 75**

 **Str: 142 +**

 **Vit: 122 +**

 **Dex: 133 +**

 **Int: 22 +**

 **Wis: 21 +**

 **Luck: 10 +**

 **Charm: 5 +**

 **XP: 686/57,000**

Ichigo could tell **Gamer's Mind** was working at full force because he didn't faint. He had partially forgotten that the Sacred Training Ground was giving him experience for the exercise he was doing.

"This is insane!" he couldn't help but yell out loud, but he quickly controlled himself. 'How many levels was that?'

 **You will undoubtedly come to the incorrect conclusion so I will spare your puny mind from attempting to understand it. In the course of your training you earned 311 stat points. In order to have earned those naturally you would have needed to level up 63 times. From your original level of 19 that would have been a net gain of 327,586,200 points of experience. I obviously wouldn't allow something as ludicrous as that so I gave you one thousandth of that. So moving forward that will be the case whenever you train in that room.**

Though slightly miffed by the insult and the denial of thirty-three levels Ichigo could certainly understand where the game was coming from. At this point he highly doubted anything could present a credible threat to his life.

"Fine… imma level up now."

'Alright, what to do. I obviously don't need any points added to my physical attributes, especially since they'll keep increasing at more or less the same pace that they have. The big deal now is to see what happens when my other stats get to 100 and I can safely say that I don't need to conserve stat points anymore so… intelligence and wisdom will get close, but not close enough. I can definitely hold off and try to get either of them to twenty-five sometime soon since I'm sure gaining stats from reading and studying will be immensely difficult at higher levels unless I find a magical library or something. It's tough, but I'll restrain myself for now. Now to see if I gained any skill levels.'

 **[Active/Passive Utility] Spiritual Awareness Lvl. 30**

 **Reishi, Reiatsu, and Reiryoku. Those are all real words that describe real similar things. With spiritual sensing you will be able to differentiate and understand these three forms of the same thing. It is also vital to your awareness when fighting spiritual beings such as hollows and shinigami. This ability is both passive and active because you will always be able to passively sense the reishi that makes up the world around you, but to be aware of the reiatsu of others the ability will need to be actively used. At high levels perhaps more things will be sensed.**

 **RK Cost: 4 RK per minute per meter away from the user**

'That's pretty fucking sweet. So how far will I be able to sustain it without actually losing any RK?' Whipping out a small calculator from his desk Ichigo quickly realized he had already figured it out before even inputting numbers onto the little device. 'My regen is 286 per minute meaning my bubble of awareness can reach seventy-one meters without costing me anything. But I did say I wanted to see how far I could take this thing…'

Deciding only to use three-quarters of his reiryoku pool Ichigo expanded his spiritual awareness to 5,362.5 meters (3.33 mi). He promptly fell unconscious.

~GB~

 **For sleeping in an uncomfortable position for an entire night for HP and RK have been restored by half and you've got a mean crick in your neck.**

"HMMNNNRRGGHH GAH! Dammit. Never sleeping at my chair ever again. But why was I here anyway…?" Remembering his failed experiment last night shocked Ichigo from his sleepiness while a cold bucket of water. "Oh yeah **Spiritual Awareness**! I bet feeling all those souls at once was too much for me to handle. I probably should do it gradually from now on. Did that even get me a level?... Nope. Damn. No effort points for stupidity I guess. Whatever, put my awareness at seventy-one and… woah."

When Ichigo had pushed his awareness to 100 meters the afternoon before there hadn't been many people, maybe twenty or so, and even then he had been laser focused on finding Uryu. Now that he was home he could distinctly feel his family and his neighbors which seemed to total almost eighty people. The majority of them felt like gentle wisps of air, but more solid which distinguished them from the two dead souls he felt. It was the souls within his own house that felt distinctly unique. His sisters felt mostly the same as normal humans just slightly more present and sharp like Ishida's soul. He was surprised by how distinct Rutoshi felt, she was like a heavy block of darkness, but in a completely non-threatening way like a pet tiger. It was still unnerving because it reminded him of the fact that she was a hollow, a disturbed monster that ate souls. Brushing past that Isshin Kurosaki felt quite peculiar. The only real comparison he had for him was the woman he ran into the night before at the gym, but instead of being oddly non-present it was like some had put a human-like shell around his cold soul.

'So dad's a shinigami… or he was one and he's… inhabiting a body? But that lady yesterday was definitely there and she didn't feel like she had a human soul shell thingy surrounding her. Or maybe she did and I just couldn't tell because of how powerful she is… Is she immensely powerful or is dad extremely weak, Kami I hope it's the second one. I don't need the reality of super powerful beings that run around and protect people weighing on my mind on top of everything else. But hollows exist so… Gah! No! Either way I think I can say with confidence that dad's a shinigami… or he was one? I'm pretty sure the same person has been raising me since I was born and he definitely still has a big place in his heart for mom, so he probably feels so weak because he's been in a human body for so long. Weird. Do I confront him about it? This obviously what the main quest is about so… Bah! It can wait. Who does the main quest immediately anyway? I've only been playing for two days! But I also can't put it off forever so… once I finish Ishida's training, or at least feel very accomplished with it, AND I have a partner, someone who's in on the game with me, I'll confront dad and see what happens.'

 **The Main Story has progressed!**

 **For having such a deep and thoughtful debate and coming to the most glorious of conclusions your Int and Wis have both gone up five points!**

"Oh shit… I can hit 100 in one of them! What to do? What to do! I don't need for reiryoku, there's just no way so I think I'll hold off on that. So Intelligence it is!

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 32**

 **HP: 4,880/4,880**

 **RK: 29,600/29,600**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 142**

 **Vit: 122**

 **Dex: 133**

 **Int: 100**

 **Wis: 26**

 **Luck: 12**

 **Charm: 5**

 **XP: 686/57,000**

 **Congratulations!**

 **For bringing your Intelligence stat to 100 or more you have been given the opportunity to choose between a number of Intelligence related perks!**

 **Mind Over Matter**

… **Or rather, mind over experience. You're so smart that you figured out an easier way to level up! Good for you!**

 **10% less Experience required to level up**

 **Kido Master**

 **Much like the sagely wizards of old you have a firm grasp on the arcane arts. Your mastery is such that many would travel through the very fabric of time and space to learn from you. Introducing: Ghost Magic.**

 **All Kido skills level up faster**

 **Reiryoku Bomb**

 **Your understanding of your reiryoku is such that you can manipulate it freely with a mere thought and devastate your enemies with barely a glance.**

 **Learn Reiryoku Manipulation Ability [Reiryoku Bomb]**

 **[Reiryoku Manipulation] Reiryoku Bomb**

 **Through sheer force of will and an intimacy with your reiryoku you can materialize an unstable orb of reiryoku to explode upon your enemies at will.**

 **Range: 5 meters**

 **Casting Time: 10 seconds + 1 second for every 100 RK over 100 RK**

 **Cost: Variable**

 **Damage: RK spent + Int**

"Wow. I'm saying wow a lot… anyway this is awesome." 'I don't know about **Kido Master** since **Sho** is probably the only Kido spell I have and I don't think my reiryoku manipulation stuff would fall under that ability anyway, so it's out. **Reiryoku Bomb** looks absolutely disgusting, if I could distract someone for long enough I could probably just one shot them with a big enough bomb, but I also doubt that I'll be having massive amounts of Intelligence so it will probably lag behind my physical abilities. But to be honest it was never a competition, easier level ups is ALWAYS the way to go.'

Content with his decision Ichigo dressed and walked out of his bedroom and down to the kitchen to find Yuzu talking quite animatedly with Rutoshi while finishing breakfast. His sister's happiness brought a smile to Ichigo's face, even Karin who was sitting at the table looked like she was content with life.

"So, I'm guessing you can see her now huh Yuzu?"

Surprised by his presence Yuzu stuttered a bit, "O-Oh! Ichigo you're up!" Then she realized what he asked her. "And yeah! I can see Ru-chan now! It took a while, but around eight she was no longer a dark haze of space and instead she was her adorable little self."

"That's great Yuzu, now," Ichigo turned his head toward Rutoshi, "Do you want to hang out with me today or would you rather stick with the girls?"

Rutoshi thought deeply upon the question before standing, looking at Ichigo, and making the universal "up" gesture.

Ichigo chuckled at her childish antics before picking her up and putting her into his head. "You comfortable up there?"

One tug.

"Great."

One hardy breakfast later and Ichigo was on his way to school.

~GB~

 **AN: For those wondering there's a canonical map of Karakura Town that when taken into consideration of what we see and learn throughout Bleach make it out to be a very small town. Like a "walk everywhere" kind of town. People tend to use bikes or cars whenever walks get to be longer than thirty minutes so since I'm pretty confident that Ichigo, Tatsuki (HIS GODDAM NEIGHBOR BTW), Chad, and Orihime walk to school without much issue or complaint I'm assuming it's a twenty minute walk at most. With that in mind Ichigo's experiment with Spiritual Awareness knocked him out because he felt a large amount of powerful auras. They're obviously suppressed or Hollows would have been attacking the entire century that they've been there, but Kisuke, Tessai, the Vizards, Yoruichi, and every human within three and a third miles was way too much for Ichigo to take in at the same time. The friggin high school is maybe two miles away from Ichigo, MAYBE.**

 **Which makes Tatsuki's question from the second chapter where we meet her immensely stupid, it would have been impossible for her to NOT know what happened at Ichigo's house. It's dumb little things like this that make me work hard on keeping my facts straight about my fiction.**

 **Like always I must apologize for grammar and spelling, I have no beta and anyone really to bounce ideas off of. The best I do is do a last scan for grammar and let's be real it's not much.**

 **So tell me what you think. And never ever worry. Ichigo will be having fun, but there will always be challenges presented to him.**

 **Thx ;)**


	6. Get Ready to Rumble!

**AN: Lol, I updated chapter four with chapter three, that was just a misclick. Obviously I'm a bit ahead which is good and bad. On one hand I have space to work and feel no pressure, on the other hand I have no feedback which matters to me. If everyone hates something, like, complete overwhelming hate from a vast majority of people I'll probably scrap it which makes working ahead dangerous. Hopefully that never happens.**

 **Hope you guys liked last chapter? This one will probably cover Friday and Saturday since I don't want to dwell too long on this beginning type stuff and desperately want to work in my amazing ideas for the future. You guys don't get, I become giddy with joy in anticipation of the things I want to do with this story.**

 **Hunter the ODG: 10% is an initial cost. My bad for not being specific enough. Once Ichigo activates the ability 10% of his HP is gone and then 1 HP is lost every second that he uses the ability. And no, lightning punch is just the chidori. In October 2001 Naruto was in the semi finals of the chunin exams, America wouldn't get it for five years, how sad.**

 **Remember, Ichigo more or less lives in the real world, in Japan. I take time to research what was popular then and Naruto had already been in publication for two years.**

 **Anyway… onto the story.**

~GB~

Chapter 5 Summary: Ichigo worked out a whole bunch and met a hot chick. At home he learned some cool stuff and got really smart.

~GB~

Chapter 6: Get Ready to Rumble!

School had been agonizingly boring, class was just way too easy for Ichigo now since all it took was the teacher to tell the class something once for him to understand it completely. It was too the point that he was confident that he could simply skim the textbooks one afternoon and completely master the curriculum for the entire year. It was something he was seriously considering. The only interesting part was feeling out all the different students in the school.

Karakura Town High wasn't the biggest school in the world, but it had around 500 students and another 100 adults between teachers and other faculty. Ichigo felt each and every one of these souls quite easily while only spending a little more reiryoku a minute than he regenerated. Maintaining **spiritual awareness** the entire day hadn't even cost him a quarter of his reiryoku pool. The biggest takeaway from the experience for Ichigo was how to distinguish human souls from each other. His classmates had been the easiest given their proximity and his familiarity with them. Orihime had the most active human soul he'd seen, it seemed to wave around and be in constant flux almost like an excited puppy. It certainly fit her unique personality. Tatsuki had a more active soul as well, but unlike Orihime it seemed sturdy and sure as if it was ready for a fight. Chad had leveled up which was cool and his soul was the most distinct one of the bunch. It felt like a slab of concrete, unmoving and sure of itself. Keigo was hot while Mizuiro was cold which seemed absurdly proper in Ichigo's opinion.

The fun part of the day was when he started to "feel colors." All the souls felt white with just a hint of something else. Orihime was orange, Tatsuki red, Chad green, and so on and so forth. Ishida had a strong yellow color that made up half of his soul which Ichigo assumed to be the representation of the fact that he was a Quincy. Ichigo's biggest interest quickly became what those other colors might mean; was everyone capable of utilizing reiryoku? At the end of the day Ichigo felt a slight headache coming on which Rutoshi seemed to sense since she began rubbing his skull in what was most probably an attempt to relieve him. Doesn't really matter it was cute.

Picking up his sisters and dropping them off at home was a simple routine the only odd part being that his father didn't assault him at the door. Rutoshi decided to hang out with the girls again, something Ichigo had no problem with since Ishida didn't seem to want to be around her. He almost went looking for money to pay for whatever bow Glasses wanted him to get before remembering he still had 50,000 yen. Sure he would have to find a good way to earn more quickly, but he had been planning on that anyway; that sacred training ground was way too awesome to pass up. The thirty minutes he had left before meeting with Ishida were used to complete his homework for the day and once it was done he threw on some sweats and was out the door.

~GB~

It was easy to find the hunting shop Ishida had been talking about since its store sign was a rather grandiose display of man with one foot on top of a deer he had assumedly just killed. Inside the store was rather small, it was at probably 2,400 square feet and the racks of guns and fishing poles made it feel even smaller. Ishida stood out quite clearly in his white uniform as he talked with an old man behind a counter at the back. Walking towards them Ichigo heard a little of their conversation.

"-should be here soon. I want him to get a bow since he's shown interest in learning from me."

"That's wonderful Uryu-kun. It's been a while since I've had a new customer and I already have a wonderful training bow in mind for him. Oh, and I believe that's him now."

Glancing behind himself Ishida confirmed the store owners statement before continuing the conversation. "You're correct Tamura-san. Good to see that you're punctual yet again Kurosaki." He gestured to the aged store owner. "Tamura-san here is a friend of mine and the owner of this store. I told him about why we're here and he apparently already has something in mind. If you would Tamura-san."

"Of course Uryu-kun, right this way Kurosaki-san." The old man gestured to a small rack of longbows on the wall directly behind him. "How tall are you?"

"Uhh around 172 cm (5'8") I think?" Confused, but knowing he was out of his depth Ichigo refrained from asking questions.

"Perfect, I have an english longbow made of yew that would fit you nicely." Tamura then turned around and almost instantly grabbed the bow he was speaking of before placing it on the counter between Ichigo and himself. "170 cm and freshly made by myself last week. It's one piece which is great for a beginner such as yourself and I'll even throw in the carrying case, quiver, and 100 arrows as part of a package. That'll be 25,000 yen."

Ichigo balked at the price, but he admitted he shouldn't have been so surprised since the old man said he made it himself. At least he was getting everything else he needed for what seemed like a good. Reaching into his pocket Ichigo opened the inventory and withdrew the requested amount.

"Sounds good old man." He said as he handed over the cash. "Is that all we'll need Ishida?"

"Yes, I do believe that is all. Have a good afternoon Tamura-san, I'll see you next week." And with that Uryu turned to leave. Ichigo merely nodded to the store owner and followed.

"You too kiddos. Have fun!"

Once outside Ichigo spoke up, "So what now, we going to train or what?"

"While I'd like to get you started, but I have a prior commitment that will be consuming my time from now until Monday. For now just master what I taught you yesterday. Until Monday Kurosaki." With a simple nod, Ishida was gone.

"Uhh… ok I thought we'd start practicing or something… whatever. That just means more time at the gym!"

With a skip in his step Ichigo set off before remembering to do what Uryu had told him. 'Hey game. Can you activate **reishi absorption** and **spiritual awareness** and set them so that **spiritual awareness** uses enough reiryoku to use up all my regen, but not actually sot my pool anything? Oh, and can you adjust it as they level up?'

… **Sure**

"Sweet! Okay, now-" Ichigo was interrupted as he felt his bubble of awareness expand to more than 150 meters causing a minor headache as his brain tried to understand all the information it was absorbing. "Ow… that's a lot of people. I guess commercial distracts are a bit busy at 4:15."

It took Ichigo several more minutes to collect himself enough so that he was comfortable walking around. There was still a slight headache, but it was negligible. What was wonderful was feeling all of the people that were near him, they were so… alive! He felt more than 1,000 souls move about their everyday lives and it was oddly beautiful. Here and there there was as odd dead person, but not nearly as many as Ichigo thought there would be.

"Guess not too many people died around here. Oh well, to the gym!"

Once again merry Ichigo headed toward his destination, unfortunately it was closer to his house than the hunting shop, but once he started running Ichigo knew he'd be there in less than a minute. But Ichigo wasn't rushing. It was a pleasant October afternoon and he just wanted to take some time and appreciate it. Something about all the living people just filled him with joy, it was uplifting in a way.

~GB~

Ichigo was not prepared when all of the souls he was sensing suddenly disappeared. It was so jarring he tripped and fell when it happened. He was really confused until he felt five large reiatsu signatures and this time, they weren't human at all.

"Shit… these things feel like Rutoshi… only super evil. Kami dammit, I don't wanna fight hollows right now… Oh yeah! I don't have to! **ID Escape**!"

 **ID Escape failed. Dungeon level too high.**

Damn, that means the boss… or creator has a higher level than I do. Bah, what am I worried about? I got a bunch of stats. Actually…" Finally remembering the weapons he had equipped Ichigo reached for his hip with the intention to draw his Asauchi and felt his hand grabs a firm pommel. He then **observed** it.

 **Asauchi Lvl. 1/?**

 **Description:?**

 **Damage: 1 + Dex*1**

 **Req: ?**

"You do no damage. But my dexterity is high enough that I'm not worried at all. My money says that you gain experience just like I do so I'm going to use you to kill everything here." Ichigo didn't know why he decided to talk to the sword, but it felt right somehow.

Just as he finished talking he felt another large presence directly in front of himself, but when he looked nothing was there. Confused Ichigo looked all over the place before finally looking up just in time to see a large hollow exit a blocky, black tear in the sky. A quick **observe** snapped Ichigo into "super serious battle mode."

 **Title: NA**

 **Name: Steel Jaw**

 **Race: Hollow**

 **Level: 60**

 **HP: 3,200/3,200**

 **RK: 1,900/1,900**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 100**

 **Vit: 80**

 **Dex: 95**

 **Int: 15**

 **Wis: 10**

 **Luck: 0**

 **Charm: 0**

 **XP: 625,890/2,457,000**

 **Summary: Steel Jaw had been aptly named for the huge steel jaw it possesses. It has been known to only attack with biting attacks something which it's physiology supports. Steel Jaw is a hollow of minor renown as it has killed about ten shinigami on it's own.**

 **Bounty: 800,000 yen**

 **Drops: Souls, Hollow Mask Fragments, Bounty Page**

 **For being present in high numbers the Aura [Hollow Territory] has been activated. All enemies have double their normal health and only take half damage from reiryoku based attacks. Healing from consuming downed hollows is also doubled.**

"These guys aren't going to be fun huh? At least I'll be doing all my damage with this sword… but it's going to take a while to kill each one and it'd suck if they ganged up on me… ok this Steel Jaw guy hasn't aggroed yet but… all the other hollows are know what? Whatever happens, happens. Game can you turn **spiritual awareness** down to 100 meters?" He lost "sight" of two hollows, but the slow increase of his reiatsu became noticeable. "Alright, now, **maximum reinforcement**!"

 **-5,000 RK for Left Arm**

 **-5,000 RK for Right Arm**

 **-5,000 RK for Left Leg**

 **-5,000 RK for Right Leg**

 **-5,000 RK for Torso**

 **-5,000 RK for Head**

Apparently turning down **spiritual awareness** had refunded some reiryoku because Ichigo knew he was 400 RK short of using 5,000 RK per limb. Using quick maths Ichigo figured out that it would take take a eight and a third minutes for **reinforcement** to fully activate, luckily it would last almost an hour and a half which Ichigo hoped would long enough for him to clear the dungeon. It was a rather boring eight minutes so Ichigo filled the time by observing his opponent.

Steel Jaw quite obviously had a large steel jaw, it looked like it belonged in a crappy monster movie due to the jaws jagged teeth and the way it seemed screwed into the hollows jaw. It's body quite obviously facilitated the use of biting attacks with its large rear legs and rather small arms. Overall Ichigo realized it looked quite like a t-rex, if a t-rex had dark gray, gangly human-like arms, no tail, and an oddly spherical head that was covered by a white mask above the jaw. He still had some time so Ichigo decided to come up with an actual strategy outside of: "whatever the hell works."

"Well," he looked at his sword, "I don't know how to use a katana, but I imagine swinging at enemies with the sharp side is the general goal. This guy's arms clearly couldn't support his weight so I'll try to cut off his legs… dammit. Hollows have that dumb regeneration ability and this guy's is probably better than Quad-Gripper's was. But still, if I hack off one leg and then the other before trying to get at his head I might be able to end this quick. Yeah that's what I'm going to do, my dexterity is so much higher than his I doubt it'll be a problem."

Course decided, and **reinforcement** conveniently completed, Ichigo dashed toward Steel Jaw and went for his leg. Steel Jaw noticed Ichigo coming, but was not fast enough to stop his attack.

 **Debilitating Critical!**

 **Steel Jaw Lvl: 60**

 **[2,932/3,200]**

 **[1,900/1,900]**

 **[Crippled]**

 **[Bleeding]**

When Ichigo went in for the slash he expected a lot of resistance especially because of how thick the hollows thighs were where it connected to it's torso, but instead he cut through the hollow like a hot knife through butter. It was genuinely shocking, but he was slightly disappointed when he didn't do any extra damage outside of the critical. He knew he had no time to waste so as Steel Jaw fell down to its left Ichigo cut through the other leg.

 **Debilitating Critical!**

 **Steel Jaw Lvl: 60**

 **[2,764/3,200]**

 **[1,750/1,900]**

 **[Crippled]**

 **[Bleeding]**

He could already see the left stump of the now shrieking hollow beginning to bulge and grow with a new limb, so with a renewed urgency Ichigo ran to its head. He caught a flailing arm to the stomach, but he didn't feel it as the damage didn't come close to breaking his **reinforcement**. When he got to the head, laying pathetically on the ground the steel jaw now hindering more than helping, Ichigo quickly steeled himself and decapitated the beast.

 **LETHAL STRIKE!**

 **Steel Jaw Lvl: 60**

 **[0/3,200]**

 **[0/1,900]**

Just as before the body fell limp and then dissolved into a black dust that entered Ichigo's body. "Ugh, even though it's happened before, this still feels disgusting."

 **You have gained 11,600 Souls**

This time no message popped up telling him about what else he had gained which left him confused until he saw the pile of items where Steel Jaw had once been. Walking over Ichigo easily recognized the stack of yen, beside it was a bag of what Ichigo assumed were hollow mask fragments, lastly there was an oddly pristine piece of paper that Ichigo assumed to be the bounty page. Tossing everything into his inventory Ichigo was disappointed to find only 5,000 yen, but the bounty was sure to make up for it. Seeing his inventory did remind him of the weapon he had gotten from Quad-Gripper, while he wasn't going to use it he did tap the box that held it to find out about its specs.

 **Hollow Bone Club Lvl. 1**

 **Description: The femur of a large hollow, repurposed as a primitive weapon. Despite its simplicity this club boasts pretty impressive damage.**

 **Requirements: 40 Str, 10 Dex**

 **Damage: 100 + Str**

"That _is_ pretty impressive damage, but it doesn't matter. I'm trying to level up the Asauchi which by the way…" Ichigo used **observe** on the Asauchi.

 **Asauchi Lvl. 24/?**

 **Description:?**

 **Damage: 24 + Dex*1.2**

 **Req: ?**

"Perfect! It's a small boost, but damn, this sword is going places." With one final glance to see if he missed anything Ichigo zeroed in on the nearest hollow and set off. His discomfort with the situation quickly lifted and he was getting excited to slay some hollows.

~GB~

Things had not been a fun as he had hoped it would be after the Steel Jaw fight. The first two fights had gone off pretty quickly in a manner much like the Steel Jaw fight: debilitate the hollow and then decapitate it. The third fight was annoying because the hollow was just a floating mass of tentacles with a mask tacked onto the front. It took Ichigo ten entire minutes to whittle his opponent down as it kept healing and had a large amount of reiryoku. By the time that fight ended two hollows had shown up intent on eating him for dinner. Luckily neither of the two hollows had a dexterity stat above 100 so Ichigo simply employed a hit and run tactic to fight them. They had defined head so the fight was still shorter than the previous one. For a full hour afterwards Ichigo ran around town slaying hollow after hollow, his **reinforcement** ran out, but he had taken so few hits that he didn't feel the need to activate it again. It was an hour after his **reinforcement** ran out that Ichigo started to become annoyed and confused. Two and a half hours in the hollow dungeon was not how he had wanted to spend his evening. He had just slain a hollow that looked like the disturbed love child of a parrot and an iguana named Mega Tooth when a large screen popped up.

 **Warning**

 **By having slain 50 hollows you have alerted the dungeon boss to your presence. Prepare for a confrontation like none before!**

"The hell?" Ichigo quickly picked up his loot and shoved it into his inventory. Wanting to be ready as soon as possible Ichigo used a **maximum reinforcement** which happened to be great timing since he had been getting close to his absorption limit. He then used whatever last seconds he had to see how much the Asauchi had improved.

 **Asauchi Lvl. 386/?**

 **Description:?**

 **Damage: 386 + Dex*3.8**

 **Req: ?**

"Damn that's amazing. The scaling is slow, but still… that's awesome."

Finally a gigantic rip appeared in the sky high above Karakura Town and from the huge rip appeared a gigantic, bone white, jester mask?

"What the hell? It's obviously a hollow, but it looks so stupid…" Ichigo's words died in his throat as the pitch black body kept coming, and coming, and coming. When the humongous hollow finally landed Ichigo almost fell from the earthquake it caused. The hollow easily towered over the tallest building in town by double its size which Ichigo guessed to be around fifteen stories. That meant the hollow was almost 300 feet tall! A quick **observe** made Ichigo nearly keel over in fear.

 **Title: NA**

 **Name: The Boss**

 **Race: Hollow (Gillian)**

 **Level: 250**

 **HP: 44,000/44,000**

 **RK: 44,000/44,000**

 **Stats**

 **Str: (550*2) = 1,100**

 **Vit: (600*2) = 1,200**

 **Dex: (100*2) = 200**

 **Int: (0*2) = 0**

 **Wis: (0*2) = 0**

 **Luck: (0*2) = 0**

 **Charm: (0*2) = 0**

 **XP: 1.31941E+15/5.6295E+17**

 **Summary: An abnormally large Gillian that has made home for itself in a special territory ruling over many lesser hollows through sheer might. It is amazingly dumb.**

 **Bounty: 65,000,000**

 **Drops: Souls, Hollow Mask Fragments, ?, ?, ?**

 **With the boss out to play the Aura [Overwhelming Might] has been activated. All of the boss' statistics have been doubled. Aura [Hollow Territory] is still in effect.**

"No. I give up. I'm leaving. This is retarded. I refuse. No. No. NO!" Unfortunately **ID Escape** was still not cooperating. Ichigo could feel the Boss walk towards him as every step shook the earth. Gamer's Mind finally kicked in and Ichigo started to come up with something, anything, that would allow him to live.

'Ok, ok. Its dex is higher than mine now which will make **instant reflexes** almost useless. Reiryoku attacks are half damage and I doubt I have the time to make a bomb using all my RK. The only other things I have are other weapons, **Tear Off** , and… **Limit Break**. Tear Off wouldn't be useful because the boss would definitely regenerate, but… it's probably a great way to whittle him down. He's got arms at least and they're pretty spindly; the question is whether or not I can actually rip them off. I've only been using one hand to wield Asauchi so I think I can wield the Basic Katana with my other, hopefully dual wielding doesn't increase individual weapon damage. **Limit Break** is non-negotiable, I need the dex boost in order to dodge his attacks and hopefully deal a bunch of damage. Reinforcement is reducing… oh shit. I used all my reiryoku and that had been doubled by **Reishi Absorption** … sweet Kami I'm going to live! I'm negating 3,000 damage on every body part! Unless this guy does something crazy-'

Ichigo screamed as he felt and then barely dodged a giant laser beam looking thing that the boss shot from its mouth.

"Fuck this! FUCK YOU!" Completely and utterly tired of the situation he found himself in Ichigo threw caution to the wind, grabbed the Basic Katana with his left hand, activated **Limit Break** , and launched himself at the monstrously huge Gillian. With his doubled dexterity stat of 270 Ichigo was a blur as he passed by the boss, taking its right arm with him.

 **The Boss**

 **[40,056/44,000]**

 **[44,000/44,000]**

Its scream of pain was ignored entirely by Ichigo, he had time limit thanks to **Limit Burst** 's absurd cost. Unfortunately the boss had absurd regeneration to match all the other absurd bullshit.

 **The Boss**

 **[44,000/44,000]**

 **[42,817/44,000]**

The new right arm literally burst out of the Gillian's torso as it spun around and reared back to, assumedly, fire another laser beam. 'So it's got a charge up time, thank Kami.' Thought Ichigo as he cut through the boss' left leg.

He was dealing massive damage, but the boss was healing absurdly quickly. Ichigo soon grew worried about his ability to survive **Limit Burst** before he saw his HP bar in the upper left of his peripheral. 'Hell yeah, **Limit Burst** may cost one HP per second, but that's really only sixty a minute. Over the course of an hour I'll be down 4,100, which sucks, but that won't kill me! And I'll regen 60% of my health which is… 2900~ish? Beefy Boy was an awesome pick.'

Luckily Ichigo didn't need an hour. Five minutes later, he lasted longer thanks to his reiryoku regeneration, the boss was completely out of RK.

 **The Boss**

 **[44,000/44,000]**

 **[0/44,000]**

"Haha fucker, you're dead now!" In his bloodlust Ichigo allowed himself to be hit by a swing of the boss' arm, but **reinforcement** held true because he received zero damage. "Dammit, now I gotta run back to you!"

It was a barely an inconvenience because not even three minutes later Ichigo was ready to strike the final blow to the dying boss.

"Look at you. No arms, no legs. Bleeding to death. But you're so dumb that you continue to thrash around pointlessly." Cutting off limbs now counted as critical hits, but Ichigo assumed the mask would count as a lethal blow. "I'm done here."

 **The Boss**

 **[10,068/44,000]**

 **[0/44,000]**

 **[Crippled]**

 **[Severe Bleeding]**

Going for flavor points Ichigo jumped high into the sky, almost as high as the boss once stood, and pushed what little reiryoku he had regenerated out of his body in a steady stream. As he landed he used both of his katanas to bisect the mask with an "X" shape. The final impact caused a huge crater and an even bigger dust cloud to rise.

 **LETHAL STRIKE**

 **The Boss**

 **[0/44,000]**

 **[0/44,000]**

As the dust settled a large blue screen appeared before a teenager who stood tall and proud.

 **You have gained 160,000 souls**

 **Great Soul of The Boss has been added to your inventory**

Ichigo then fell over exhausted. Unfortunately his respite was short because he saw a small pile of loot where the boss had fallen.

"Alright what do we have here?" Ichigo picked up a necklace made of industrial steel chains.

 **Chain of the Damned**

 **Description: This chain was created by giving thousands of hollow consumed souls physical form and forcing them together into a solid mass. Its heavy weight suggests its dark secret.**

 **Requirements: 150 Str**

 **Effect: Triples Souls gained, Doubles Damage Received**

"Huh… it's risky and metal as hell, but I think I can use it without worrying about anything. Well, as long as hollows stay this easy to kill." He then picked up a full set of samurai armor. "What. The. Fuck."

 **Legendary Armor of Tomoe Gozen**

 **Description: This armor is modeled after a famous samurai's. It boasts impressive defenses and has a special ability that may trigger when health is low.**

 **Requirements: 100 Str, 100 Vit, 100 Dex, Female**

 **Effects: Reduces all incoming damage by 30%, In a pinch may restore all HP,**

 **50% increase in damage against hollows**

"Kami dammit! This is pretty sick and would go perfectly with the Chain of the Damned! Ugh. Whatever." Ichigo put the armor into his inventory and picked up a bag that held an impressive 1,000 hollow mask fragments. Finally he picked up the boss' bounty and a neat stack of 1,000,000 yen. "Great, and great. Still don't know what I'm going to do with these souls and fragments, but whatever! I'm getting stuff and that's what really matters. Actually…" Ichigo was struck by a brainstorm.

Extracting the Hollow Bone Club Ichigo asked aloud, "How do I make you better?" but nothing happened. He then withdrew ten hollow mask fragments and simply squished the items together. A blue screen appeared.

 **You look really dumb.**

"Well shit! How do I upgrade weapons and stuff?"

 **Wait a bit and you might find out.**

Exasperated beyond all belief Ichigo put away his items and redirected himself to his character page since he had to have leveled up over the course of the last three hours of fighting.

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 42**

 **HP: 5,680/5,680**

 **RK: 33,600/33,600**

 **Stats: 50**

 **Str: 158 +**

 **Vit: 142 +**

 **Dex: 153 +**

 **Int: 100 +**

 **Wis: 26 +**

 **Luck: 17 +**

 **Charm: 5 +**

 **XP: 6,482/183,780**

"So, the age old question of what to do returns once again. Wisdom is closest to hitting 100, but I really don't think I need any more reiryoku. Charisma is whatever to me especially since **speechcraft** seems less game dependent and more focused on the actual stories I tell. Luck might be cool. I really want to know what kind of perks I can get from it not to mention that I almost never put points into it. But ultimately I don't need anything right now, so I'm going to save them." Content with his decision Ichigo closed all the open boxes and used **ID Escape**.

 **Congratulations!**

 **For succeeding in this encounter you have gained access to several wonderful things!**

 **[Active Utility] ID (Instant Dungeon) Create Lvl. 5**

 **This little wonder allows the Gamer to instantly create a field dungeon in his immediate vicinity. At level one the Gamer will only be able to create empty dungeons . As the Gamer levels the skill up he will be able to create more complicated dungeons such as, mob dungeons of different types, training dungeons, and even time dilation dungeons.**

 **Available Dungeons:**

 **Empty Dungeon**

 **Abyss Dungeon**

 **Zombie Dungeon**

 **Hollow Dungeon**

 **You have also gained the title: Apprentice Hollow Slayer**

 **Apprentice Hollow Slayer**

 **You've met and defeated your fair share of hollows and are pretty comfortable with dealing with them, but you have a long way to go before you can call yourself a master of the art.**

 **+20% damage against Hollows while equipped**

Luckily damage within an instant dungeon does not reflect upon the outside world so Ichigo was able to find a bench to read the pop-ups without issue. 'It's less than I thought I'd get, but the title is great. The game said to wait on crafting so I'm going to guess that this Abyss dungeon has something to do with it. It's only 7:30, I've got time and after all that I really don't feel like going to the gym. **ID Create: Abyss Dungeon**.'

 **Error!**

 **The player must be in a secure location before the Abyss can be accessed!**

"Uhh… ok. Guess I'll head home."

~GB~

Dinner was delicious as per usual. Ichigo didn't bother collecting Rutoshi from his sisters since he wanted to be alone when he went to the Abyss. After telling the rest of his family that he wanted to be left alone because he was tired and ready for bed Ichigo settled down and once again used **ID Create: Abyss Dungeon**.

He was not prepared for the intense falling sensation and utter darkness that enveloped him for several seconds. Before he could figure out what was going on he suddenly landed on his feet in the middle of what looked to be a large, dark cavern. Looking around he noticed that there seemed to be shops carved into the wall and that was it. There were around eight shops at the moment, but there was also more than enough room for more. Then a blue screen appeared before him.

 **Welcome to the Abyss!**

 **Think of this as a hub world where you, the player, will be able to access multiple vital services. Currently there are only a few shops which include: a blacksmith for weapon and armor crafting, a herbalist for natural remedies, an armorer for the buying and selling of weapons and armor, a weapons expert for training weapon related skills, a merchant for the buying and selling of general goods, a bounty collector, a bank, and a level re-specifier. As you can see there is space for many more shops, so look around and maybe you might find an NPC that would like to help you out.**

"Well that's pretty great. I gotta turn in these bounties."

Luckily all the shops were stylized in such a way that their service was obvious from the first glance. The bounty collector was a rough looking man that was decked out in full old west sheriff gear. He was sitting at a large wooden desk and behind him was a large board covered with pieces of paper which Ichigo assumed to be bounties. The NPC seemed to be busy writing something on a piece of paper, but he looked up once Ichigo stepped into the shop/cave thing.

"Well howdy partner. It's not often that I get business around these here parts." He said with a thick western accent. Ichigo wasn't even sure how he did that while clearly speaking Japanese, but accepted it anyway. "I assume yer here to turn in some bounties. I'd be more than glad to take them off yer hands and pay you yer due."

"That's exactly right actually. Let me grab them." Not worried about being noticed since he was truly in the game Ichigo simply summoned his inventory and withdrew the fifty-one bounties he had collected. He then set them down in front of a now flabbergasted sheriff. "This is all of them right now. I hope to come here often."

Ichigo's words released the sheriff from his stupor. "Well I'll be damned! I've never seen someone some in with this many bounties at once! Let me see here… Steel Jaw! That one got a hunter I knew, good fella, real sad he's dead." The sheriff continued to flip through the bounties, sometimes remarking on a hollow that he was familiar with, until he suddenly fell out of his chair. As he recollected himself he began asking, "The Boss? The Boss! You killed The Boss! That demon had killed so many up and coming hunters that I knew that I was getting ready to call the Gotei 13 and have them send one of their captains to put 'im down. Wow kid. I can't believe you've done it! On behalf of bounty hunters everywhere, thank you!" The sheriff vigorously shook Ichigo's hand before picking up and the slumping into his chair. "But you're here for business am I right? With all of these bounties including The Boss you've earned yourself 100,000,000 yen."

"HELL YEAH!" Ichigo could not restrain himself as he jumped for joy. He had enough money to get the membership. And so quickly too! "That's amazing. So… is it simple exchange or…"

The sheriff smiled at the youngster's rambunctiousness. "Of course it is sonny. Let me just…" As he was speaking the sheriff stood up from his desk and opened a safe next to the bounty board. He then took out a metal briefcase and sat back down at his desk. "Here you go. 100,000,000 yen."

Ichigo's mind was boggled, "What? That's it? Uhh… ok I guess. Uhm. I'll be around. See you." With a simple goodbye Ichigo put the briefcase in his inventory and left for another shop.

The smithy was defined by it's large forge that connect to a long work table that took up easily half of the shop. The blacksmith was a large man, easily 200 cm plus, with a big, black, bushy beard that had clearly been singed multiple times. He was wearing a thick apron and gloves, but no shirt showing off his well-muscled body. He looked like he could easily win the Mr. Universe competition on an off day. Besides that odd fact the man wore simple blue jeans and boots, and a heat mask of course.

At the moment the blacksmith seemed to be polishing a ludicrously large sword. "Excuse me?" The sword was intimidating and the mountain of a man was holding it with ONE HAND! "I need to upgrade some of my weapons and I assumed this was the place to do it. Am I correct?" If Ichigo had learned anything from video games, it was that this man would make The Boss look like a little bitch if he pissed him off, so he refused to do such a thing.

The blacksmith clearly heard Ichigo because he put the greatsword on a rack, wiped his hands, and took off his mask. Just as Ichigo had expected the man looked like he belonged in the frozen wastes of Antarctica wrestling polar bears for a living. Unsurprisingly his voice was absurdly deep. "You are correct. What are you interested in upgrading?"

Ichigo took out his Hollow Bone Club and gave it to the man who accepted it without question. "It's a-"

"Hollow Bone Club, yes I know. It's not too uncommon a weapon especially among those who regularly hunt hollows. To upgrade it I will need ten Hollow Mask Fragment and 100 souls."

"Really? That's not a lot at all. What will it take to max it out?"

"Hmm… to max it out I will need 2,100 mask fragments and 127,600 souls."

"Holy shit that's a lot! That'll leave me with only fifty fragments. But I'm not using this stuff for anything else… this better be worth it. Here you go." Handing over the fragments was simple since they were held in a bag, the souls on the other hand were surreal and kind of uncomfortable. They were an ethereal, glowing ball of white that swirled within itself, it looked alive and the sooner it was out of Ichigo's sight the better.

"Perfect. And you shouldn't worry about the cost, the increase in quality and damage is, in fact, worth it. Now get out of here, this will probably take an more than a day of work so come back Sunday afternoon. It should be ready then." The blacksmith then turned to the work table where he laid down the club and began taking measurements.

Recognizing the dismissal Ichigo nodded to the man's back and left, he was not prepared for the entrance to suddenly close behind him with a giant metal door. "Jeez, talk about over the top. But what else should I do? I doubt I'll need an herbalist for anything right now. The bank might be useful later on, but not right now. The weapons expert seems like the way to go. After all, I'm not trained in swordsmanship which is why I have to rely on Asauchi for damage."

The weapons expert was sitting on his tatami mat covered floor in what looked to be deep meditation. He was decked out in simple looking black leather armor and had his hair done up in a chonmage. On the walls were an assortment of weapons and not one of them were the same. Just as Ichigo was going to step into the dojo the man spoke up.

"Welcome warrior. I sense you are here to learn the way of the blade. May I see the weapon in question." He held his hand out not once opening his eyes.

'Fucking games man.' Ichigo drew Asauchi, which he was pleasantly surprised to find had reached level 522, and handed it over.

The weapons expert slid his hands almost reverentially over the blade, "Ah. The weapon of the shinigami, I have not seen many of these before. Your two seem quite friendly, I'm sure you're well on your way to unlocking each other's true potential. Now." The man finally stood up and looked at Ichigo with completely black eyes. "You are here to learn." He tossed Ichigo Asauchi which he caught with ease thanks to his **instant reflexes**.

The next hour was pure torture as Ichigo was taught in excruciating detail the basics of katana swordplay. He was constantly corrected and berated for every little mistake and in the end he had to cough up 1,000,000 yen! But it was worth it when he finally saw the skill he gained.

 **[Passive Combat] Beginner Kenjutsu Lvl. 38**

 **The art of kenjutsu is an ancient one and you have barely touched the tip of the iceberg. You're just starting out, but if you stick to it you will surely go far.**

 **+19% damage when using katana**

'That's ok I guess… it makes sense, but I wish there was more. Hopefully I'll get the higher tiers soon. And I am pooped! I'll swing by the gym tomorrow after I train with Tatsuki, maybe I'll even bring her with me… something to think about. **ID Escape**.'

Back home and still on his bed Ichigo quickly fell asleep.

~GB~

 **AN: Holy shit. I did not anticipate that at all. Like I said I really wanted to finish up Saturday in this chapter, but I'll live. The hollow encounter was fun and while the Abyss came out of absolutely nowhere I'm pretty happy with it. You Souls fans out there will no doubt notice the similar systems I'm slipping into this game, there will be even more!**

 **I hope you guys like the chapter, I will confess that I suck at writing action scenes which is why I generalize and gloss over stuff so I'm sorry if you're not a fan, I understand.**

 **I also got a great for Ichigo's zanpakuto soul or however that thing works. I'll find out. So a head's up… you know what never mind. You'll see someday.**

 **Please leave a thoughtful review.**

 **Thx ;)**


	7. Old Friend

**AN: I hope chapter six is well received tomorrow. I'll see I guess.**

 **There's been a lot of positivity from the reviews and I have to say that I am eternally grateful for it. You guys inspire me to be better.**

 **Man… can I just day I did not expect for Karin to be bodacious as she was in the final chapter and Tatsuki was basically the same… oh well. And where was Isshin, it's implied that the clinic is now Ichigo's and Yuzu sleeps in his old room… did Isshin return to Soul Society? I'm sure if I went back and did a deep reading of the series from start to finish there would still be a crap ton of questions that NEED answers. Oh well.**

 **It's kinda weird, I'm starting on chapter 10 as I post this.**

 **And hey! Turns out I didn't make up the hollow bounty thing! I literally just read that fact and it's kind of hilarious.**

~GB~

Chapter 6 Summary: Ichigo got his bow after school, but was blindsided by an inescapable field dungeon. The dungeon went pretty well what with killing a level 250 boss and all. Then he found the Abyss which is a pretty cool hub world.

~GB~

Chapter 7: Old Friend

Ichigo woke up at 7:30 to the message he had gotten quite used to in last four days now.

 **For sleeping in your own bed your HP and RK have been fully restored.**

Getting up and out of bed Ichigo dressed in sweats once again, but these were blue, because he owns different pairs of sweats and isn't a disgusting pig. He then went to his sisters' room to see if any of the girls were awake, but they weren't. 'I can make breakfast just fine on my own.' Downstairs Ichigo made himself a simple egg sandwich and simply sat in the peaceful silence contemplating his new life.

'My life's a game… this shit's crazy, but damn if it isn't cool. You know what? I'm probably the strongest human being in existence, probably the fastest too. The only things I have to compare myself to anymore are probably the hollows and shinigami I might encounter. Hollows… they're not from around here if those portals they come out of mean anything. It's probably the same with shinigami, but that lady from the other day was definitely a shinigami and definitely human. What's heaven like? I mean… those souls that disappear go somewhere right? I bet that's where shinigami live. And on that note, why the hell haven't I seen or sensed a shinigami fighting any hollows? Oh yeah… let me check on **spiritual awareness**.'

 **[Active/Passive Utility] Spiritual Awareness Lvl. 48**

 **Reishi, Reiatsu, and Reiryoku. Those are all real words that describe real similar things. With spiritual sensing you will be able to differentiate and understand these three forms of the same thing. It is also vital to your awareness when fighting spiritual beings such as hollows and shinigami. This ability is both passive and active because you will always be able to passively sense the reishi that makes up the world around you, but to be aware of the reiatsu of others the ability will need to be actively used. It is also capable of determining a person's personality to a certain extent. Perhaps more at higher levels.**

 **RK Cost: 1 RK per minute per meter away from the user**

'Huh… it still says "perhaps more at higher levels" thing, so I'm betting it won't cost any less and instead I'll start getting perks. I hope they're cool. How about **reishi absorption**?'

 **[Active Utility] Reishi Absorption Lvl. 21**

 **A vital skill of the Quincies as it allows them to bolster their reiryoku reserves so they can fight longer and harder. The user can only absorb reishi equal to the amount of reiryoku that they naturally have within themselves. Absorbing more will cause damage to the user possibly resulting in death. At higher levels magnificent things can be done.**

 **Absorption Rate: 31 RK per minute**

'So this guy got a bunch of levels too. So for the sake of training I'm going to do the same thing I did yesterday which will put my range at… 367 meters. Man that's big, but I have to get used to it, after all, hollows can pop up in the real world so I have to be alert. I'd hate to miss out on loot and levels and maybe I can actually use my The Protector title. And… damn that hurts.'

Much like before here was an intense influx of information when Ichigo expanded his senses to the 367 meter limit. On a scale of one to ten the headache he now had was around a seven, he just needed a few minutes to recollect himself and he would be fine. There were definitely a bunch of souls in his range now and once again Ichigo marveled at the beauty of life, in feeling their souls Ichigo felt like he could feel the heartbeat of every single person and it made him feel connected somehow. He couldn't tell if this was a new development of the power or he was feeling sentimental because of Tatsuki's proximity. Yesterday he hadn't thought about it much, but her's was a soul that he recognized immediately despite not acknowledging it when he got home Thursday night.

Ichigo was standing in front of her door about to knock as he continued to think about the tomboyish girl he had known for so long. 'I know why, but it still boggles my mind that we drifted apart when she's literally twenty steps away from me. My higher wisdom and intelligence must have something to do with how introspective I've been because I would have never thought about this last week. I can do whatever I want now thanks to the game, I'm more than strong enough to protect my family and soon I hope that with **spiritual awareness** I'll be able to keep tabs on them at all hours… which is kind of creepy actually. But anyway… I can make bigger efforts to make friends and socialize now I… I don't have to be afraid anymore.' The thought actually made Ichigo tear up, but he quickly blinked them away. "What the hell now is not the time to psychoanalyze-'

Ichigo's train of thought was interrupted by the door in front of him opening. He quickly recognized Tatsuki's mom who looked mostly the same as she had yesterday when he walked past her on his way home. Seeing her made Ichigo realize his self-centeredness, she had been a single mother to Tatsuki for years, a job that must be absurdly difficult, but he had basically ignored her existence when he stopped hanging out with Tatsuki. Adults need friends too… right? He didn't know anything about Tatsuki's father, but he did know that her mother was still single leading him to believe that he had died.

Despite her apparent tiredness she perked up a bit at seeing Ichigo. "Oh Ichigo! It's so good to see you! Tatsuki said you were coming over this morning, she's already downstairs. I assume you had breakfast? There's some leftovers if you want them."

"Thanks Ms. Arisawa, but you're right I already ate and I'd hate to keep Tatsuki waiting."

"Of course, of course. Well go on then, I'll have lunch ready whenever you kids want it ok?"

"Sounds good Ms. Arisawa, thanks a lot."

Ichigo still remembered how to get to their basement so he got there without trouble, but he was not expecting what he found down there.

 **You have entered a Karate Dojo Dungeon. Death is impossible. All Martial Arts related abilities will level up much more easily than normal.**

The reveal that the basement was a dungeon was surprising for sure, but with how it now looked it made a ton a sense, even though Tatsuki told him she had remodeled it. The first thing he noticed was that the entire floor was now a black rubber that you commonly find in dojos and gyms. One of the shorter walls was completely covered in medals, trophies, and certificates that Tatsuki no doubt earned over the years. Another wall had a training dummy, a normal punching bag, a slightly smaller punching bag, a speed bag, an uppercut bag, _and_ a double ended bag! Just left of the stairs there was a small weight rack and a couple of kettlebells. The room was probably twenty by forty feet and it was very well lit. In the center of the room stood Tatsuki herself decked out in tights and a sports bra and apparently going through a kata. When she finished and returned to her neutral position she finally noticed him.

"There you are, I was just doing some quick warm-ups before you got here. Speaking of… do you recognize that kata?"

Surprised by being put on the spot Ichigo desperately tried to rack his brain for any memory pertaining to her question, but he came up empty. "Uhh no. Should I have?"

"Hmm… maybe. You quit when we were ten, but we had been members for six years so at that point… no. You wouldn't recognize it, but since you've come here to train I want you to go through all of the kata you remember."

Ichigo grimaced at the instruction, it'd been five years since he had done any sort of formal training and he barely remembered anything! He settled into the neutral position anyway hoping that it would remind him of something. "Ok so… this?" He slowly began a kata he vaguely remembered. As he went he slowly began to feel more confident and when he finished he turned to Tatsuki with a pleased grin.

Unfortunately she wasn't laughing at all. Her face was stuck between a pained grimace and humor and it looked very uncomfortable. "Really? Ichigo that was like… five different katas put together with completely random things in between. Gosh we've got a lot of ground to cover. Ok, follow my movements exactly, this is the first kata of our school so you should be able to pick it up easily."

Tatsuki demonstrated said kata and Ichigo studied her closely, he wanted to get some sort of benefit out of their training session and if they spent the whole day recapping old stuff ichigo knew it would be a waste. An unforeseen side effect of his intense analyzation was that Ichigo was firmly and repeatedly reminded of that fact that Tatsuki was a woman. Her butt looked fantastically squeezable in her tights as she went through the kata and abrupt movements made her chest jiggle slightly. It became a real struggle for Ichigo not to pop boner as he studied his childhood friend. He barely succeeded and let out a breath of air he had been holding in at the same time that Tatsuki finished. Luckily she seemed to have been concentrating deeply on her form so his slightly lecherous gaze went unnoticed.

"Alright, now you try."

Even though he had been slightly distracted Ichigo preformed the kata without issue.

"Perfect, I suppose you remembered something from when we were younger. Let's keep doing this, with any luck we can see whether or not you deserve a purple belt before lunch today."

Ichigo was slightly surprised by the declaration until he remembered that he had actually been a purple belt when he quit. 'I can't believe she remembers that.' "Sounds like a plan, let's get to it."

Tatsuki couldn't help but smirk at his enthusiasm as she proceeded to show him the next kata.

~GB~

Tatsuki was floored. Never in a million years did she think that anyone, much less the delinquent known as Ichigo Kurosaki, would have done what she had just seen! Ichigo had successfully mastered each and every kata of her school in a merely four hours! She had expected him to quickly get down a couple of them through muscle memory, but as she showed him new katas Ichigo still did them almost perfectly on his first try! At most he had to try it two times because by the second time Tatsuki had no doubt that he had the form down pat. She had doubted him the first and second time he did it for sure, but after demanding that he do the katas five times in a row without rest, her doubts were forcibly washed away. He did them perfectly each and every time! Tatsuki was genuinely jealous of this feat as Ichigo apparently mastered forms that took her weeks and months to get right.

The kicker had been when she showed him the final kata her school, which she herself had learned mere months ago, and he did it perfectly on his first try. The last couple of katas he had flubbed on the first try in one way or another, but the hardest one he did with ease! It was as if he were condensing months of learning, practicing, and hard work into mere minutes. That kata Tatsuki once again demanded to be preform it over and over until she was satisfied, which she never was.

'This is ridiculous! How can someone who has been out of practice for years go through katas the way he did? If this had been a promotion meet he would have successfully achieved black belt! I'm third dan right now… could Ichigo be the same? Where does it stop? If I put Ichigo into five competitions in a row would he achieve fifth dan? And then, it takes masters years of teaching and even achieving new progress in the art to reach tenth dan, how quickly could Ichigo achieve it? This… this is inhuman! How is he doing this!'

Negativity flowed through Tatsuki like a raging river which Ichigo picked up quite quickly since he literally felt her soul darken.

"Tatsuki… are you ok?" he asked.

Tense silence followed as Tatsuki glowered at Ichigo for several minutes before gritting her teeth and grinding out a single word.

"How?"

The question surprised Ichigo. Throughout the entirety of the lesson he had been solely focused on either Tatsuki's body, soul, or his martial art form. He quite literally hadn't been thinking about anything else so her anger and frustration was completely random to him.

"Uhm.. what?" Wrong choice of words.

Her mouth seemed to clench even tighter to the point that Ichigo could almost hear her teeth grinding against each other. Numerous veins were bulging out on her forehead and if he looked closely tears seemed to be welling up in her eyes. Something was very wrong. Tatsuki was enraged.

"How, the FUCK? Are you doing this? If this were a formal setting you would have just successfully achieved black belt. It's been four damned hours! How are you doing this!" Tatsuki seemed to be losing what little control she had as she almost screamed the last sentence.

Ichigo was quite was he pondered her question, and her anger. "Of course she's angry. In only a few hours I've done what she and many others have taken years of hard work to achieve. Even god-like prodigies couldn't have done what I just did, I'm making her efforts seem worthless. And it's all thanks to the game… I did say that she was the one I wanted to invite to this…'

"Tatsuki." He tried to make his concern for her as evident as possible with his tone of voice. "Come and sit down I've got to tell-" He had gone to put a hand on her shoulder as a placating gesture, but she violently slapped it away.

"Don't touch me." Her voice was low once again. "It's not fucking fair." She accentuated that statement with a punch to Ichigo's gut that he barely felt. His lack of reaction seemed to enrage her even further as she proceeded to pummel his stomach with full strength punches. She went on for a full minute before collapsing against his chest crying openly and with force into his light sweater.

The turn of events had been one that Ichigo had expected, but it didn't make it any less uncomfortable. Tatsuki was violently shuddering and crying against him, his sweater barely muffling her wails. She barely reacted when he wrapped his arms around her hugged her for all of his worth. He couldn't help but compare the situation to the few times he had comforted Yuzu when she got extremely upset or something. Only this time, it was much more important.

Still crying at full force Tatsuki began speaking again. "Why? Why didn't you come to me? For a whole year you still went to the dojo and not once did you ever talk about your mom. You stopped coming over that very night, I thought, I hoped you would stay my friend, but you didn't. You didn't! We were best friends, you meant the world to me, it killed me to see you drift further and further away as you became an isolated and broody boy. You fought all the time and sometimes I'd see you drag yourself home all bloody and bruised. Even now I see the pain in you, in your eyes and I know, I KNOW! That I could help if you let me." By then her sobbing had stopped and her voice was even if a bit exhausted sounding. She finally turned her tear stained face up from Ichigo's "Please Ichigo. I know this crazy progress you made today is just another thing to keep away from me. I'm so tired of crying over your pain and sadness Ichigo. Please. Please…"

Not since his mother's death had anyone spoken to Ichigo with such compassion. It left him feeling miserable. As he stared into this beautiful, vulnerable girl's eyes he asked himself, 'Why? I know why and it's stupid.' After all, he had been thinking about just before walking into her house that very morning. "I'm sorry. I know it's not enough. And I know I'm stupid for not realizing it before, but I'm not going to do that anymore. Hehe. I actually came here today hoping to tell you something, but… I'm sorry. I never should have blocked the world out like I did, I never should have blocked you out. I'm sorry.' Once again tears welled up in his eyes, but this time he let them fall. "I'm sorry Tatsuki. I wanna… I wanna do this more often. I want to hang out more often. I wanna be friends like we used to be. Is that possible?"

The small smile that graced Tatsuki's blotchy, tear stained face before she buried it back into his chest was absolutely gorgeous. "Yeah. I think so."

Ichigo smiled at that response. "I'm, I'm happy to hear that…" He couldn't stop the smirk his smile turned into, "Tatsuki-chan."

Hearing that made Tatsuki jerk away from the red haired boy and lightly glare at him, "Uh-uh, we aren't little kids, you stopped calling me that years ago. Cut it out."

His smirk became a shit eating grin, "Aww, but Tatsuki-cha~an." He went in for another hug which she deftly avoided.

"Eww, stop! We're not little kids!" but she couldn't stop the light blush that covered her face, of course she would blame it to on the crying if Ichigo said anything.

"I don't know~, I bet you're still just as ticklish as you were when we were little." The statement made Tatsuki's face pale to a chalk white.

"You wouldn't."

Ichigo got into a sumo stance, his hands ready to assault her young body. "Oh, I would, I definitely would."

Realizing he was serious Tatsuki made a mad dash for the stairs, which were behind her. Ichigo quickly followed.

As she burst into the first floor Tatsuki screamed, "MOM! Ichigo's try-" but she couldn't finish as Ichigo practically flew up the stairs, tackled her, and immediately began tickling her weakest spots.

She couldn't help the high pitched squeals that came out of her mouth causing Ichigo to laugh in tandem. This was the scene Tatsuki's mom walked in on, Ichigo sitting on Tatsuki's butt, laughing his ass off, as she screamed in mad laughter beneath, vigorously writhing in an attempt to shake her attacker off. Hisae Arisawa couldn't help the smirk that grew on her face at the ridiculous sight, it was as if nothing had changed between the two and all it took was a heart-to-heart. She was immensely happy she had suggested that her daughter invite her "long-lost" friend over for some training, she just wished that she wouldn't cry as loudly.

Hisae waited a full minute, thoroughly enjoying the childish show the two teens were putting on, Tatsuki had been screaming "stop" for the last thirty seconds, before speaking up, "Sandwiches are ready if you kids are hungry. And Ichigo, please get off my little girl, you weigh much more than you did when you were nine."

Hearing Hisae stopped the teenagers cold. It took Ichigo a hot second to realize how they must look to Tatsuki's mom to which he immediately stood up and bowed an apology. "I, uhh, sorry Ms. Arisawa, we, uhh, we were just playing around a bit. Right Tatsuki?"

Tatsuki's face was redder than a tomato, she had quite quickly realized that Ichigo's crotch was rubbing directly into her butt with the way he was sitting. Besides the tickle attack the feel of his… penis, against her butt and the weird way it made her feel were things she desperately wanted to escape. Unfortunately Ichigo had not been mindful to that fact at all as he continued to tickle her without mercy.

"Uhh, yeah, we had just finished training and Ichigo got all silly and-"

Hisae laughed at the teen's struggles, "Why are you apologizing you two? Just some innocent fun between friends right? Anyway, eat up. I'm sure you're hungry after all that training. Am I right."

"Y-Yeah." They both said, still stuttering with embarrassment.

"Ok then, the sandwiches are on the table, I'll be in the living room watching TV if you need anything." With her bit said, she was off.

Silence reigned for several minutes before Tatsuki finally said, "You're an idiot."

"What? Why? I definitely read somewhere that humor and laughter were the best ways to dissolve tense situations so…" he defended. 'And… and I wanted to touch you again.' Ichigo would die before he said that aloud.

"You? Read? Yeah right… whatever. Let's just eat." Tatsuki said, before she walked into the kitchen.

~GB~

The sandwiches were delicious and the two teenagers absolutely demolished them. Once done eating they simply relaxed and enjoyed each other's presence for a couple of minutes. Then Tatsuki remembered something that Ichigo had said.

"Hey, what were you going to tell me earlier?"

Her voice shook him from his food induced zen, "Wha? Oh yeah. Uhm. Wow. Ok. Uhh. Do have anywhere you need to be this afternoon?"

Tatsuki looked at him oddly before answering, "No, not that I can think of, tomorrow either."

"Alright… are you comfortable…" Ichigo trailed off as he drank in her rather sexy from once more, "I mean, I want to bring you somewhere so…" For whatever reason it felt wrong for him to tell her to cover up, but he really wanted to. The conundrum left him quite flummoxed.

"Oh really, I thought we'd stay here to train."

"Well we could, but I found this amazing gym I really want to show you, and it has a lot to do with what I want to tell you."

She looked at him suspiciously, "Hmm, ok. But gimme a sec, it's chilly outside and I want to wear a sweater."

"Oh that's fine, we got time." On the inside Ichigo was cheering something about Tatsuki being "protected."

In mere moments Tatsuki was back downstairs in a casual black sweater and sneaker which he hadn't realized she wasn't wearing. "Alright, let's go Ichi."

Once they were outside Ichigo decided to introduce Tatsuki to the game in a big way. " **ID Create**!" Unfortunately she was not there with him in the empty dungeon. "Whoops. **ID Escape**." his reappearance caused Tatsuki to scream.

"Holy shit Ichigo! What the hell? You disappeared!"

Embarrassed by his mistake Ichigo ignored her question, grabbed her hand, and said, " **ID Create**."

Tatsuki then jerked away from his hand. "What the hell you grabbin' my hand for! And how did you disa-" She cut herself off when she realized that besides her yelling there were no noises being made.

Robotically she twisted around and looked up and down the street to find that there was absolutely no movement. No movement, no sound, no people. Thoroughly freaked out Tatsuki backed herself into Ichigo and grabbed the hand she had just let go.

"I-Ichigo… what the hell is going on?"

He had not expected her to be as scared as she was, but here he had no worries about people being nosey and listening in as he told Tatsuki his massive secret.

"Relax Tatsuki, please relax. Nothing's wrong I brought us here on purpose so that we could have some privacy. Also, this is a part of what I'm about to tell you."

Spinning around to look into his eyes Tatsuki sighed before nodding her head in acceptance, but she did not let go off his hand.

"Thank you, let's walk and talk. Now, on Wednesday I woke up to a weird blue text box floating above my head. It told me that my HP and RK had been fully restored because I had slept on my bed. Now I bet you're thinking, "That's some video game sounding stuff!" and you'd be right because it is. My life is now an rpg, I can level up, learn abilities, fight monsters and everything else you can think off. The past couple of days have been crazy, especially the monster fighting stuff, and I've learned that I need to share this with someone. I had already been planning on that someone being you, but that talk earlier has only solidified my choice. So with that being said, I'd like to invite you to my party, Tatsuki."

The words coming out of Ichigo's mouth made sense by themselves, but together they painted a picture Tatsuki could scarcely believe. The choice of belief had already been taken away when Ichigo had brought her into the empty world. She had no choice but to believe. Then, a blue text box appeared in front of her eliciting a small yelp of surprise.

 **You have been invited to join Ichigo Kurosaki's party. Do you accept?**

 **[Y/N]**

Tatsuki was scared, whatever Ichigo had been dealing with, the whole video game thing, it was not normal at all. He even said he had been fighting monsters! On one hand she was scared of everything making her life a video game might entail, on the other hand she was excited at what making her life a video game would entail.

"So… is this why you got so good so quickly? How you mastered each kata I showed you like it was nothing?"

Ichigo chuckled sheepishly, "Yeah, I assume so, you're basement dojo is actually pretty special, it helps me learn Martial Art related abilities much more easily than I normally would. I think it should affect you, but I don't know. I didn't feel your place like I did the place we're going."

"Hmm, fine." Tatsuki clicked "Y." Nothing really happened. It wasn't until she looked at Ichigo, whose hand she was still holding, that she realized it had worked.

 **The Protector**

 **Ichigo Kurosaki Lvl. 42**

"Woah, you're level forty-two and you're the protector? Makes sense I suppose. Oh! What level am I?" Tatsuki quickly looked up, but saw nothing but sky.

Ichigo chuckled at the action, "This game has a menu, but most of the stuff is voice activated so you can just ask for what you want to see. So you can say "stats" or "character sheet" to see your level."

"Okay, stats."

 **Title: Karate Queen**

 **Name: Tatsuki Arisawa**

 **Race: Human~**

 **Level: 9**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **RK: 260/260**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 10**

 **Vit: 10**

 **Dex: 17**

 **Int: 3**

 **Wis: 3**

 **Luck: 1**

 **Charm: 1**

 **XP: 860/1,400**

"What, the hell? Seriously? I'm betting you were around my level Wednesday, how'd you level up so fast! And what are your stats? Show me Ichigo's stats!"

Ichigo was about to protest that she couldn't do such a thing, but then he saw another text box appear in front of her and she gasped, loudly.

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 42**

 **HP: 5,680/5,680**

 **RK: 33,600/33,600**

 **Stats: 50**

 **Str: 158 +**

 **Vit: 142 +**

 **Dex: 153 +**

 **Int: 100 +**

 **Wis: 26 +**

 **Luck: 17 +**

 **Charm: 5 +**

 **XP: 6,882/183,780**

"Ichigo! What the hell! Your stats are ridiculous! How'd you get them so high? It's only been four days!"

"Well, actually my crazy stats have everything to do with where we're going. You see, I noticed that I could earn stat points through normal things without leveling up. If I exercised I got points in strength, vitality, or wisdom. If I read or paid attention in class I got points in intelligence. If I think things through I get intelligence _and_ wisdom. I get luck points… if I'm lucky I guess. Charisma is the only one I haven't gotten or put any points into, but I have feeling that if I regularly put on makeup or went to spas and salons that I'd get points in there too."

Ichigo took a breath. "Anyway, I thought that if I went to the gym to work out that that would be a good way the boost my physical stats without spending level up stats, which we get five of every level by the way. It gets harder as it goes to earn stat points so I wanted to save them when I could by doing everything I can to exercise and study. So, I went to the Gold's Gym, which is where we're going, and decided to sign up. The only issue is that I'm fifteen and I needed my dad's approval and information to sign up. You remember my dad right? It would be a terrible idea to involve him with anything important. So I bribed the woman."

He then remembered how he earned that money, "By the way, we earn money from slaying monsters. So I had 100,000 yen on me and slipped her 50,000. Yeah I know, a good bit of cash. She ended up accepting it, but I guess she took me as a high roller and she brought me to the office behind the front desk. The she opened a secret wall which led down a dark staircase to a padlocked door behind which was the most beautiful gym I've ever seen. The crazy part is that it's actually a sacred training dungeon apparently? and gives crazy boosts to stat increasing. Almost all of these high stats are from Thursday evening alone. Insane I know. On top of that you get experience for the stats you earn, like a thousandth of what the stat's levels are worth or something. Either way, it gave me a bunch of levels that I used to bring my intelligence to 100. So… yeah. And look we're here. Let's get into this alleyway and… **ID Escape**."

Ichigo glanced around to make sure no one saw him and began to walk again.

"This is insane Ichigo. What does it even mean to have stats that high? I genuinely can't believe I'm saying this, but what's it like to be so smart?"

Ichigo couldn't help the deep belly laugh that her question prompted. "Well… it's just that things are really easy to understand which I guess is the real reason I took in those kata forms so easily. School yesterday was cake. If I wanted to I bet I could take a day to read all of our material and test out of our year. But hey, it's not something you have to wonder about for long because I'm sure you'll get there soon. Anyway give me a sec, this is another crazy bonus about this game."

The person at the desk today was not Namika but instead a middle aged man with a deep tan who looked like he spent many hours in the gym lifting small elephants. Floating above his head Ichigo could clearly see:

 **Gym Owner**

 **Senichi Inokuma Lvl. 22**

Putting up his "suave face" Ichigo pulled his card out and laid it on the counter. "Hello sir, I'm looking for the owner of this fine establishment, it's ok if he's not here, I can wait."

The man responded in an unexpectedly smooth voice, "You've found him. I'm the owner of this fine establishment, what business do you have with me."

"Perfect, you see I'm interested in discussing private matters, is it possible that we could step into your office?"

Senichi sized Ichigo up for a moment before he nodded his head and went into the back room.

"Stay out here for a sec Tatsuki, I think this will be a one on one exchange."

"Fine, but be quick."

Ichigo followed into the office and sat at one of the chairs in front of the desk. "You see, I came in here a couple of days ago hoping to get a temporary membership only to be told that given my age I needed a parent's approval and information. Unfortunately that's a situation I wished to avoid so I… greased the fingers of one of your employees. I was let in, but not only was I let in, but I was given this." He showed the gym owner his black and gold card.

Senichi had been silent throughout Ichigo's story, bit seeing the card prompted him to physically stand up. "What the hell? How did you-"

"Please relax Inokuma-dono. I'm here, telling you all this, because I wish to make this permanent." Ichigo reached behind him and pulled out the briefcase holding 100,000,000 and set it on the desk between them. "I have fallen in love with your special gym and right here is 100,000,000 yen, which I believe is the price of a God Tier membership?"

Senichi slowly sat back down and grabbed the briefcase before opening it. Slowly and methodically he began counting the bill and assessing their legitimacy. After a few minutes of careful investigation he closed the briefcase and put it down next to his seat. He then gave Ichigo a good, hard look as if assessing the soul before finally saying, "This looks good kid, I normally don't accept underage applicants, mainly because they're lying about their cash, but I already know you're good for it. The card is yours. I assume you've been informed of all the rules pertaining to this special gym."

"Yes sir."

"Perfect, I also assume you're bringing your girlfriend out there with you?"

Ichigo sputtered for a moment, "No, we're not, I mean yes, but she's not my girlfriend. We're just friends and I wanted her to experience this gym."

"Pretty big deal for "just friends" in my opinion. Anyway, call her in, I'll bring you down."

"Wonderful, " Ichigo opened the door, "Tatsuki come on!"

~GB~

 **AN: Another unexpected chapter. I want to do so much and it's so hard with just 5,000 words, but I know that long chapters often drag so I'm disciplining myself.**

 **Just like with chapter 2 I hope you guys like, and find believable Ichigo's and Tatsuki's heart to heart. I know it got pretty cliche, but for me it felt right.**

 **And good god, you guys have no idea how much self restraint it took to not make Tatsuki's mom a full on MILF looking for some sweet young Ichigo D. Like… if it weren't for the absurd amount of drama involved in such a thing I really would have done it.**

 **Don't know what to say, this was finished in a single sitting that happened before chapter six went up… doo do doo.**

 **Leave a thoughtful review**

 **Thx ;)**


	8. Twists and Turns

**AN: I officially feel bad, once chapter seven goes up this story will have broken even with Goku the Gamer and I feel terrible. I love Goku the Gamer, but I'm so on fire to write this. Not to mention how I wanted to improve Goku the Gamer is more than simple changes even though I wish it were. Ugh.**

 **Peridotite is a type of rock that weighs about 187 pounds per square foot.**

 **Anyway, I'm going to stop saying what my plans are for a chapter because I always come up with random shit that derails my plans completely. But I kinda love it.**

~GB~

Chapter 7 Summary: Ichigo went over to Tatsuki's house to train and they got all emotional as teenagers are known to do. Ichigo told Tatsuki about the game and brought her to the super gym he's working out at. And he became a permanent member.

~GB~

Chapter 8: Twists and Turns

Much like Ichigo before her Tatsuki was awed by the majesty that was the sacred training ground. "Oh my… it's beautiful."

While her statement was undeniably true, Senichi had heard it a thousand times before, "Yes yes, it's a thing of beauty. If you kids decide to stay the night I better not get any noise complaints or we'll have issues." He was gone before either of the red-faced teens could protest.

Their mutual embarrassment was only increased when a tinkling laugh came from their right. They both turned to see the the gorgeous woman Ichigo saw Thursday exercising as she said, "Oh, to be young and in love!"

Desperate to remove themselves from the situation Ichigo grabbed Tatsuki's arm and practically dragged her over to the weight bench furthest away from the dark skinned beauty. They shared a glance which served only to refuel their burning red faces so it took several moments before they were calm enough to converse normally.

Deciding to go with the "pretend it didn't happen" route Ichigo immediately started instructing Tatsuki on how the training was probably going to go. "Okay, so, just like normal I want you to put on whatever weight you're used to benching and then, and here's the important bit, I want you to go until you can't go anymore and _then_ I want you to try and keep going. I'll be here to spot you so you don't have to worry."

"Are you sure this will work?"

"Really, look at my stats, I know it works. Now get to it."

Tatsuki did as instructed putting on 135 pounds and pumping out a very solid sixty reps before Ichigo had to catch the bar as it slipped from her grasp. She only took a moment of rest before trying to continue the exercise, her face scrunched up in pain, but she stuck to it and once again almost dropped the bar as she gasped at the appearance of a blue text box.

 **[Active Combat] Limit Break Lvl. 1**

 **You have reached the limits of human capability and through a will seen only once a generation you pushed even further beyond to succeed in your task. Limit Break increases damage output and finesse by over stimulating the body, but doing so also leaves the player vulnerable and this ability has a high cost.**

 **Doubles Dexterity**

 **Damage Increase: 20%**

 **Damage Received Increase: 20%**

 **Cost: 10% HP and 1 HP per second**

"Woah… pant… pant… I got an ability! That's so cool!"

Ichigo smiled at Tatsuki's pure joy and excitement, but he was more pleased at see Tatsuki's stats increase. When she first laid down on the bench he pulled up her stat page and was given a front row seat as her strength stat slowly ticked upwards. She had gone from a measly ten points in strength to his pre-workout stat of twenty. When he heard her breathing become even again he threw on fifty pounds, to be safe, and told her to get back to it.

"What! How? You just increase my weight by a whole bunch there's no way-"

Knowing she was wrong Ichigo brazenly pressed his index finger into her lips, "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Just trust me."

Tatsuki responded by slapping his hand away, "Pervert…" blushing, and doing as she was told. To her surprise and delight she was more than capable of lifting the rather heavy weight of 185 pounds. "Woah… this is easy!"

"Told you, put it down for a sec, I want to you to do exactly what I did yesterday so…" Once she did as he asked he swapped out the twenty-five pound plates for forty-five pounders. "Alright, get to it. If you get gains as quickly or as well as I do you should be able to reach about 100 reps before you get real tired. Now, I want to see if I can get out of this room for weight training tonight so… I want you to be careful while I work out ok?"

Tatsuki dismissed the redhead with a simple grunt and continued with her workout. "Oh wait! I can't be getting too bulky from this Ichigo!"

Her statement made him pause before he realized he had not gained any sort of muscle mass despite his insane workout. "I don't think you can, so I wouldn't worry about it."

"Oh… good I guess. Scram boyo, I gotta get in the zone!"

Chuckling at her antics Ichigo went to the magic bench and resumed his workout from Thursday night.

~GB~

At 4:00 Ichigo realized he was a bit peckish, when he glanced at the clock he was surprised to see three hours had passed since he and Tatsuki had arrived at the gym. Luckily his hunger coincided with him finishing his final rep of 5,000 pounds, the Herculean perk in tandem with the sacred training ground's bonus worked beautifully. Thursday night he had begun struggling at the end of his workout, today he hadn't struggled a single time and had clearly gained much more than he had before. Doing the math he had gained about nine points in strength every time he increased the weight and did 100 reps. If at 142 points in strength he could bench press 1,500 pounds 100 times, then to do so at 5,000 pounds would mean he had around 470 points in strength. The reality was mind boggling when Ichigo realized it, he had gained at 310 points which was the entirety of what he had gained on Thursday! He was sorely tempted to go right into the "heavy weight" room and find out what was there for him to lift, but he knew he had a lot of time to do such things and Tatsuki was also there.

Luckily Tatsuki wasn't dead when Ichigo found her, she was actually in the middle of attempting a rep of 1,700 pounds from a magical bench Ichigo had not seen earlier. She was clearly struggling so Ichigo took it upon himself to grab the bar and put it to rest much to her relief.

Smiling cheekily down at her while resting on the bar Ichigo asked, "How ya' doin' Karate Queen?"

The question confused Tatsuki greatly before remembering that that was the her title which in turn cause her to scowl. "I'm great oh great, The Protector. Don't call me that it's weird." she then sat up and turned around to face him. "Hey, that started to get really hard after 1,300 pounds. I've actually had to decrease my increases between sets because it was impossible to hit 100 reps if I increased the weight by ninety pounds. Do you know anything about that?"

Ichigo shook his head in understanding, "Definitely. I think it's because stats are harder to grind as we go up in points so you were probably gaining less points every set at these really high weights. It's actually why I… Oh right here. You didn't see this?" Ichigo gestured to the large text box floating to the left of Tatsuki.

She glanced at it, "Yeah I did, but you weren't here to explain anything and I wanted to concentrate on the exercise so I ignored it."

"Oh… it's a bit self intuitive… whatever. Let's check it out because this, is pretty cool."

 **Congratulations!**

 **For bringing your Strength stat to 100 or more you have been given the opportunity to choose between a number of Strength related perks! Choose wisely for this will only happen again when the stat reaches 500, 1000, and every thousand afterward. This will happen for all stats when they reach such milestones.**

 **Herculean**

 **You are like the mighty god Hercules. Wherever you go people compare you to his awesome might!**

 **All strength gains are much easier.**

 **Lay Hands**

 **Your fists are your primary tool and as such you know how to use them well.**

 **All hand to hand combat damage is doubled.**

 **All hand to hand physical abilities will either add or increase their strength modifier**

 **Battle Trance**

 **Throughout time warriors have spoken of the fabled state of being in which one feels in tune with themselves and the fight to the point that their abilities feel god-like.**

 **Grants access to the Active/Passive Combat Ability [Battle Trance]**

 **Battle Trance Lvl. 1**

 **A state of being in which the player's damage output is increased and they gain the ability to see their opponents moves before they do them.**

 **Cost: 1,000 RK**

 **Activation Time: 30 seconds**

 **Duration: 1 minute**

 **Damage Increase: 200% increase to all physical damage**

Tatsuki's eyes were wide the entire time she was reading the text box. "Woah, these all seem really cool."

"Huh… yeah. They do. I actually got some different ones when it happened to me, the only one that's the same is **Herculean**. Anyway, I feel like the option to go with is **Herculean** because if today has shown me anything it's that that perk works really well. **Lay Hands** goes amazing well with the fact that you're such a hand to hand combat type of gal so I think it's the next one to go for. Battle Trance seems cool, but you won't be able to use it for a bit and if I can help it you won't be fighting the stuff I've been fighting. So…" He trailed off and looked at Tatsuki indicating that the decision was ultimately hers.

"Well… you're super smart apparently so… I'll go with **Herculean** too. And what do you mean about me not fighting the things you have been?"

"Oh. Yeah. I've been fighting some crazy high level enemies. Like… way too strong. I think the game is actively tailored to my own experience, for example, last night I fought a boss that was level 250 and I killed it. Don't get me wrong, it was scary as shit, but I did it using all the resources available to me. I'm pretty sure that it'd squash you in a second."

While hearing that annoyed her a bit, Tatsuki couldn't deny the fact that Ichigo was most likely right. " Fine, I guess. So what do you want to do now?"

"I'm super hungry now and the only thing these guys don't seem to have is a restaurant. I've got more than enough money to pay for anything we want so any ideas?" Ichigo didn't know why, but he felt, deep in his soul, that the question he just asked meant something important. Neither teen realized how much like a date their afternoon looked like.

"Well… If benching 1,700 pounds doesn't make me look like some sort of Hulk monster then I doubt stuffing my face with fatty foods will make me fat. I'm craving meat." She blushed a bit at what her words could mean. "Let's go to that new Yakiniku restaurant."

Ichigo scratched his head while trying to remember the restaurant in question, "Oh yeah, the one in the Kinogaya district?"

"Exactly, I've heard that they're pretty good and I've been wanting to go."

Tatsuki's tone and body language became pleading. Ichigo never intended to shoot down her request, but there was something awesome about the way she looked so he didn't answer her for a full minute.

"That sounds great let's go." All Tatsuki had to do was grab her coat and they were ready to go.

~GB~

Once they were outside Ichigo reactivated his empty dungeon so that he and Tatsuki would have some privacy as they walked. He expected her to be chock full of questions that would require a lot of detailed information he didn't want strangers to know. Almost immediately after he activated he empty dungeon his assumption was proven correct.

"Hey Ichi… why does your race description say human-ish with a bunch of question marks?"

'Oh man… straight for the insane questions that I have no real answers for. Great.' Ichigo took a moment to consider exactly what he would say. "To be honest I'm not 100% sure. And for you to understand my thoughts there some stuff I've got to explain to you, but after learning about the game I don't think it'll be too weird. So you remember all those years ago when you asked me whether or not the rumors about my ability to see ghosts were true and I said no?"

Hesitantly Tatsuki nodded yes, she had a feeling she knew exactly where this was going.

"Well I lied. I can see ghosts and they're very real. It's usually simple stuff like car crash victims and the elderly, but on Wednesday after the tournament I learned there was more to it. There are these things called hollows and they're monsters that eat souls. It's literally the only thing they do, dead or alive they don't care. They're also pretty big, like, on average bigger than a van. I then learned from the description of the hollow I fought that apparently shinigami are real things and it's their job to kill hollows."

Tatsuki sucked in a sharp breath at that revelation. "Shinigami, like actual shinigami? Holy shit Ichigo that's insane!"

"Yeah, tell me about it. I actually haven't seen one, maybe, but they've got to be out there because I'd never seen a hollow despite having having the ability to see dead souls for years. So. A cool ability I got is called observe and it tells me information about anything I use it on, people included. So I was just using it on everybody and anybody when I used it on my dad and it turns out that he has a crazy high level of eighty! I actually haven't used it on him again since the level increased and I could see race, but I have a feeling that it'd either say shinigami or be all question marks. Because all of the humans I've seen, even strong ones like Senichi who was 42, are nowhere near dad's level. I also learned how to feel souls within a certain range and dad's feels all kinds of weird, but that's another thing I have to tell you which can wait."

Ichigo took a deep breath before finishing. "I think my dad's a shinigami, or at least he was one. That's why I think my race says human-ish."

Tatsuki was silent as she absorbed the bomb that had been dropped on her. Ghosts were real, people and ghost eating monsters were real, and shinigami were real! And her best friend was half shinigami?

"But how do you know you're dad's specifically a shinigami?"

"Well, it's a couple of things. First, that lady that uhh… teased us definitely isn't human. She's also super powerful. Dad feels like she does, but a lot weaker, like astronomically weaker. There are also only five different things people can be, human, souls, hollow, shinigami, and another one, and dad and that woman are the only outliers so with through process of elimination they must be shinigami."

"Huh. But then how'd he make a baby? Can shinigami and humans just get together?"

"Well that one's interesting. My dad feels like a shinigami, but his soul is encapsulated in a shell that feels almost human, so I'm guessing his body was created for him to inhabit allowing him to have kids… I guess. It's the only thing that would make sense.

"Hmm, I obviously wouldn't know. So then why doesn't he fight hollows or why haven't you talked to him about all of this?"

"I'm pretty sure he doesn't fight hollows because he no longer can see spirits at all. All my life my dad has never said such a thing so I think he lost his powers or something. And… to be honest I haven't talked to him about all of this because I don't want to involve him in anything. You know how ridiculous he is, I just don't see his involvement as a good thing. On the other hand he's the reason I've gotten the main quest."

"Main quest?"

"Yeah, apparently this game has a main quest and I'm guessing it's getting to the bottom of why I have these powers. You see, my dad's title is Shiba Clan Head which I assume means there's some sort of nobility wherever shinigami come from. Which makes it even weirder that he's my dad in the first place! I'm sure he's been ignoring important responsibilities my entire life, he's a friggin' clan head! But to be honest I'm not worried about all of this, if I get things done for the main quest then good, but it's not what I care about. It's only been four friggin days! Admittedly, in a normal video game… what? At least 48 hours of me actively "playing" is a lot, but still, this is the rest of my life we're talking about here there's a lot of time to do a lot of stuff."

"Hmm, you're whole life huh? Mine too now."

They fell into a contemplative silence at that statement. This was life now. Till the day they die leveling up and slaying monsters will be the norm and for Ichigo there was no going back. They stayed that way until they found the restaurant Tatsuki had been talking about and they slipped into another alley to escape the dungeon.

"Hmm, looks pretty nice, I hope we're not too underdressed for this."

"Bah, who cares Ichi, aren't you rich or something? Let's just go and get seated."

Exactly as Tatsuki said there wasn't any issue with their casual dress, sure they got the odd look from the various families who were enjoying dinner, but the teens couldn't care less. The food also ended up being delicious and once Ichigo told Tatsuki exactly how much money he had available to him they went out of their way to eat as much of the most expensive meat on the menu as possible. The incredulity was clear on the waiter's face when he came to drop off their check, but was thoroughly surprised when they declared their intention to eat some dessert! Forget the price, these kids were eating enough food to feed ten people! Much like with the main course The Protector and the Karate Queen indulged in multiple delicacies that were honestly worth their high price.

At the end of the meal the manager was the one who came out with the check and not so subtly demanded that they pay for their meal or risk police involvement. The shock was evident in everyone's faces, for many patrons had decided to be eavesdrop on the potential drama, when Ichigo pulled out the 100,000 yen needed and handed it over as though it were nothing. Tatsuki couldn't restrain her uproarious laughter as she and Ichigo walked out hand-in-hand.

Just as they were leaving she shouted out, "The food was amazing! We'll be back for sure!" before she continued to cackle until the restaurant was well out of earshot.

Even Ichigo got a kick out of the situation, but his main interest was Tatsuki's happy face. Dinner had been spectacular as the two childhood friends stopped talking about the game and simply chatted about school and life in general. Ichigo had adored listening to Tatsuki regale him with story after story about her tournament competitions and wins it made him further regret killing their friendship but in turn made him determined to maintain what they now shared. It was nice for him to freely speak about all his encounters with the various ghosts around the city with someone other than his sisters. As they left hand-in-hand Ichigo realized that their dinner looked exactly like a date and he didn't mind the idea one bit.

'Dating. Liking someone. Do I like Tatsuki? Do I want to kiss Tatsuki? Naw.' "So that was fun. Wanna head back to the gym or head home or…?"

"Heck yeah we're going back to that gym! I haven't tested out my strength much, but I did bend my fork by mistake and it didn't take any sort of effort. I wonder how my competitions will be like now?"

"Yeah… those probably won't be an issue anymore. If you wanted I bet you could spend the rest of your life making money by winning tournaments. But I bet that'd be boring eventually."

"Yeah you're probably right. If anything I'll get super famous and then open up my own dojo. One of the I'm hoping that this game has is a way for me to learn new fighting styles and integrate them with what I know. That's be awesome."

"Huh… that does sound pretty cool. There's just so much to this game that-"

 **You have entered field dungeon: Ogre Fortress.**

As if that wasn't jarring enough what was an empty street lined with building of all shapes and sizes began to melt away and in its place grasslands spread out for miles and miles in every direction except for the north. In the distance there a large fortress and behind it grew a large forest.

"Seriously? And I bet I can't escape this one either. Ugh."

"Woah! Has this happened to you before?" Tatsuki asked, eyes wide and curious.

"No. It's happened three times and one of them changed the scenery like this. It was kinda fun of see all the destruction that I caused to the town, if I'm being honest. But this is weird. Let's head to the fortress, this place is called Ogre Fortress after all."

Tatsuki simply nodded, her eyes were full of determination.

"Actually wait. That gym gives us experience for our stat gains so let's see what we got before we head in."

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 62**

 **HP: 7,280/7,280**

 **RK: 41,600/41,600**

 **Stats: 150**

 **Str: 473 +**

 **Vit: 182 +**

 **Dex: 153 +**

 **Int: 100 +**

 **Wis: 26 +**

 **Luck: 17 +**

 **Charm: 5 +**

 **XP: 1,974,137/3,276,200**

"Holy shit, this is amazing."

Tatsuki heard him say this and glanced over at his screen causing her to yell in outrage. "What the hell?" How many friggin' levels did you get out of that? I only got two!"

"Wait, what? Only two?" Ichigo looked at her screen for confirmation.

 **Title: Karate Queen**

 **Name: Tatsuki Arisawa**

 **Race: Human~**

 **Level: 11**

 **HP: 1,040/1,040**

 **RK: 1,100/1,100**

 **Stats: 10**

 **Str: 168 +**

 **Vit: 52 +**

 **Dex: 17 +**

 **Int: 3 +**

 **Wis: 3 +**

 **Luck: 1 +**

 **Charm: 1 +**

 **XP: 1,717/2,200**

"That's so weird. Why did you get so little?"

"Yeah! That's what I'm asking! And I got a whole bunch of strength and vitality so it doesn't make sense!"

"Hmm, well it might be because of your low level. You got a whole bunch of points, but .001 of all the experience you could have gotten is way less for you than it is for me. My first time, I got a bunch more points and I was a couple levels higher than you. But that's just a guess. Right now I don't know what we're going into so I want you to put all those points in vitality just to be safe. I on the other hand… hehehehehe."

Pouting Tatsuki did as he asked and turned to see what he decided to do with all of his points.

"Let's get strength to 500 so I can get the next perk, and… you know what? I don't need RK at all, so let's see what happens if I get luck to 100. And I'll save the leftovers.

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 62**

 **HP: 7,280/7,280**

 **RK: 41,600/41,600**

 **Stats: 40**

 **Str: 500 +**

 **Vit: 182 +**

 **Dex: 153 +**

 **Int: 100 +**

 **Wis: 26 +**

 **Luck: 100 +**

 **Charm: 5 +**

 **XP: 1,974,137/3,276,200**

 **Congratulations!**

 **For bringing your Strength stat to 500 or more you have been given the opportunity to choose between a number of Strength related perks!**

 **Tremor**

 **Through sheer might you control the earth beneath you.**

 **Grants the Active Combat Ability [Tremor]**

 **[Active Combat] Tremor Lvl. 1**

 **With a mere stomp of your foot or pounding of your fist you can command the earth to attack your enemies**

 **Damage: Str**

 **Range: 5 meters**

 **Attacks: Spikes, Walls, Fissure**

 **Cooldown: 1 minute**

 **Heavy Weapons Expert**

 **Weapons are something you know and love, but maces, greataxes, hammers, greatswords, and the like hold a special place in your heart.**

 **Any and all weapons that scale primarily with the Strength stat will permanently deal triple damage.**

 **Strength in Numbers**

 **Your friends and allies are your strength. You rely on them just as much as they rely on you and that is something beautiful.**

 **When in combat the strength stat is multiplied by the number of allies you have**

 **Congratulations!**

 **For bringing your Luck stat to 100 or more you have been given the opportunity to choose between a number of Luck related perks!**

 **Treasure Hunter**

 **All Drops are doubled! Money, Experience, Souls, Items! All of it! Also increases the chances of ultra rare drops.**

 **Critical Master**

 **Causes the chance for a critical hit to occur anywhere on an enemy.**

 **One Shot, One Kill**

 **You do way too much damage… maybe.**

 **Grants the Active Combat Ability [One Shot, One Kill]**

 **[Active Combat] One Shot, One Kill Lvl. 1**

 **The player charges their weapon of choice with immense power and does a super cool anime clash thing against an enemy. Chance to cause death.**

 **Cost: 5,000 RK**

 **Damage: Str+Dex+Luk**

 **Instant Kill Chance: 1%**

"Oh wow. This-"

"Oh wow." Tatsuki mimicked in an over the top nasally voice.

"This is pretty cool."

"This is so~ cool!"

"Tatsuki, I get it. It sucks, it's not fair, you should've gotten more levels. But can you please let me do this in peace so he can go and get out of this dungeon?"

"Hmph. Fine. I'll be over here on the grass. Alone. Weak. Low-leveled." Tatsuki flopped onto the ground and began rolling around.

Ichigo's eyes widened in confusion. 'Oh. My. Kami. I did not know she could be so petty. Huuuuuu.' "Anyway, **Strength in Numbers** seems cool but it specifies teammates so with just me and Tatsuki I won't be getting any sort of bonus. **Heavy Weapons Expert** is cool especially because I'll be getting that club back tomorrow, but **Tremor** is also pretty cool and it goes hand in hand with **Herculean** since, I assume, I'll always be gaining strength. I'll also be able to use **Tremor** right now and with Ms. Whiny Pants over there being able to make a wall might prove useful. But then I'll have to wait so long to get **Heavy Weapons Expert**!"

He glance over at Tatsuki, her childish was equal parts annoying and endearing and he couldn't imagine a situation here she got hurt. ' **Tremor** it is.' "As for Luck… these are all great. Like amazing, but **Treasure Hunter** stands far above the rest if only because it doubles my experience too. Alright Let's get going Tatsuki."

"Hmph!" She groaned face down in the dirt.

~GB~

 **AN: Oof, I'm sorry. I'm cutting this one short because I'm 100% certain that the exploration of this fortress will end up being a really long chapter or maybe even two chapters. Again sorry if I teased ya' a bit too much.**

 **I'm also sorry if this chapter feels useless because of all the dialogue that just recaps and elaborates on stuff I've already talked about. Most likely I'll be dropping this chapter at the same time as chapter 9 just so that there's a bunch of action for you readers.**

 **Please leave a thoughtful review. ;)**


	9. Castle Crashing!

**AN: Surprise, surprise! This chapter is probably being dropped in tandem with chapter eight so go read that one if you came to the "newest chapter" immediately, you'll be pretty confused.**

 **Ok, I feel a little dumb, but equally frustrated. Check this out. On the canonical map of Karakura town Ichigo's and Tatsuki's houses look very close to each other, but are described as being a couple minutes away from each other. I assume that's walking speed meaning they're probably only a couple blocks away from each other. But still! Unless I've missed something huge these guys walk to high school, but now it's kind of far away. Like and hour long or longer walk, admittedly if I walked to the high school I graduated from it would take about 45 minutes if I don't rush and it's not super far away. Hilariously enough it seems as though my town and are pretty comparable to each other. Oh well. Just details. I don't think it really matters I just wanted to say it.**

 **And since these two chapters go together I probably won't say anything else, onto the story!**

~GB~ 

Chapter 8 Summary: You literally just read it, do I need to do this? Ichigo and Tatsuki exercise and get mad points. Then they go out for dinner and spend mad cash. And then they end up in a dungeon that's super different and fantasy-like. Tatsuki throws a bit of a tantrum.

~GB~

Chapter 9: Castle Crashing!

Up close the fortress was much larger than either Ichigo or Tatsuki had anticipated. It's massive walls loomed above them easily 100 or so feet and the huge gate was easily sixty some odd feet. To the left and right of themselves the walls stretched for 100 yards or more which is why the fort looked small from a distance.

"Holy crap Ichigo we gotta storm this place?"

"I guess so… I don't know how we'll get in either since I don't have any really destructive… oh snap!"

"What… you got something?"

"Maybe… but it might count as cheating the system."

"Who cares? I wanna see how fighting stuff is like so hop to it!"

"Sheesh, fine. Just let me concentrate…"

Reaching deep within himself Ichigo had to re-familiarize himself with his reiryoku pool. Just as he anticipated it was around four times larger than it was before, but he couldn't understand how he knew that when it still looked like a giant ocean. Moving past that question Ichigo began drawing on his reiryoku, creating a ball shape that manifested in his hands. Unlike with the Quincy bow Ichigo created the biggest stream he could and he could feel his reiryoku dropping quickly. The ball began getting bigger and bigger until he had to hold it with both hands above his head. He activated reishi absorption just so that he could make the ball bigger and to make sure his reiryoku didn't drop to zero. Ichigo had pulled up his stat screen just to be safe and when he hit 1 RK he turned off the stream, which wasn't much of a stream anymore.

Looking up Ichigo realized he was holding an absolutely massive blue orb that was easily triple his size.

"Holy shit! I made a fucking Spirit Bomb. Ha!"

"Holy shit is right Ichigo, I'm going to back away from this thing 'cuz I'm pretty sure it can kill me in an instant."

"That's… that's probably right. Let's put some distance between us and the wall."

Together they ran around 100 yards away from the wall.

"Ok, this is probably good enough." Ichigo said, still holding the ginormous blue ball above his head.

"I swear to Kami-sama Ichigo, if this kills me I'm going to haunt you for the rest of you life!"

"Hehe, I'll hold you to that. Alright… 1… 2… 3… and hup!" Ichigo chucked the massive orb made of pure reiryoku towards the castle door.

It moved agonizingly slowly to the point that Ichigo wished he could somehow push he orb faster, but he wasn't _that_ reckless. After full minute of the orb traveling through the sky, Tatsuki now looked very bored with the situation, it hit the wall. When nothing happened the femme fatale turned and complained to Ichigo.

"This was your idea? It's more like a bouncy ball than-" She was interrupted by the massive explosion at the gate.

The boom was so loud that both teens ended up deaf, then the winds caused by the detonation actually lifted the two of them up and moved them several yards. After several minutes the winds died down and the teens could hear again and when they looked at the fortress the were in for a shock. In a perfect sphere there was absolutely nothing left of the wall. It was as if Kami had reached down from heaven and taken a huge scoop of the land with him. The fortress proper could easily be seen now.

"Well…" Ichigo rubbed his ears in an effort to stop the mild buzzing that was still in them. "I think we can get in now."

"You think? Let's just go, you realize every single enemy will now be after us right?"

"I mean… yeah? But who cares! I doubt we have anything to fear anyways."

They jogged at a fast pace in order to get to the inner walls as quickly as possible. The courtyard, or what left of it, seemed pretty basic and had little no no decoration. The fortress proper had a much smaller down that Ichigo easily broke down with a punch, but not before turning on his **spiritual awareness** again. He restrained it to 100 yards so that he actually gained RK, but it still proved useful as he felt ten, of what he assumed to be, ogres waiting for them inside. A quick **observe** made Ichigo realize that dungeon had not been for him at all.

 **Title: Ogre Infantryman**

 **Name: Tim Luk'tor**

 **Race: Ogre**

 **Level: 15**

 **HP: 600/600**

 **MP: 20/20**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 30**

 **Vit: 30**

 **Dex: 8**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 1**

 **Luck: 5**

 **Charm: 0**

 **XP: 0/4,200**

 **Summary: The lowest rung of the ogre army led by Lord Krulp.**

 **Drops: XP, Yen**

 **Title: Ogre Archer**

 **Name: Grag Bult'rag**

 **Race: Ogre**

 **Level: 15**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **MP: 200/200**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 10**

 **Vit: 10**

 **Dex: 35**

 **Int: 10**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Luck: 5**

 **Charm: 0**

 **XP: 0/4,200**

 **Summary: These grunts are on the same level as Ogre Infantryman, but they are suited for much more delicate tasks.**

 **Drops: XP, Yen**

 **Title: Ogre Heavy**

 **Name: Kroto Mik'nar**

 **Race: Ogre**

 **Level: 25**

 **HP: 1,000/1,000**

 **MP: 100/100**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 45**

 **Vit: 50**

 **Dex: 15**

 **Int: 5**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Luck: 5**

 **Charm: 0**

 **XP: 0/18,600**

 **Summary: While not elites, ogre heavies can hit hard and take some hits. They can sometimes enter a rage that increases their damage.**

 **Drops: XP, Yen, ?**

"Check that out! Tatsuki! This dungeon is for you!" Ichigo said completely unconcerned by the group of enemies bearing down on them.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh yeah, you don't have **observe** yet. Well these guys are super low level, so I think that you're meant to clear this dungeon. So… have at it! I'll make sure no one kills ya!" 'And probably proc The Protector for the first time.'

"Uhh are you sure?" The ogres were quite large and the two in the back looked absolutely ginormous. Tatsuki had been excited at the prospect of fighting, but now that she was face to face with her first enemy, a group of enemies by the way, she was feeling decidedly less so.

"Yeah I'm sure. Here. Let's bat them out and I'll make a wall with **Tremor** so you only have to fight one or two of them at a time. Sound good?"

"I guess so…" As she said that Tatsuki backed out of the entrance with Ichigo close behind her.

" **Tremor: Wall**." Just as he hoped a large wall grew in front of the entrance to the fortress cutting off two Infantryman from the rest of the group. "Alright Tatsuki, I don't know how long that'll last so get to it."

Steeling herself Tatsuki ran at the closest opponent and socked him in the stomach. Killing the enemy in a single blow. The enemy began disintegrating into silvery dust before it even hit the ground.

All movement stopped when that happened. Ichigo had to pick his jaw up off the ground before he could even think of trying to figure out what happened. Tatsuki finally reacted when the enraged cry of the other Infantryman reach her eyes. Quite smugly she punched the enemy in the stomach with ease and watched as he too disintegrated before her eyes.

"Tatsuki! What the hell? You did 1,008 damage do those guys. What the hell!"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know. Guess I'm just that awesome."

Just as she finished Ichigo's wall crumbled and the rest of the group came barreling through. Confident in her newfound badassery Tatsuki dove headfirst into the fray pulverizing every enemy she ran into. The ogres didn't have time to react to the fact that she was slaying them with such ease so it took only a minute for Tatsuki to be done with the entire group.

"This is insane! 1,008 is flat damage! And one time you did a critical out of nowhere dealing 2,016 damage! How are you…" Ichigo stopped himself when he realized he hadn't bothered to see what abilities Tatsuki had, nor had he checked to see what her title gave her. Quickly pulling up the information everything began to make sense.

 **Karate Queen**

 **You're the baddest bitch around and your power comes from your extreme karate ability.**

 **All Karate related attacks does triple damage.**

 **[Passive Combat] Advanced Karate Lvl: Max**

 **Many years you have trained in the art of self defense and your enemies have every right to cower in fear. You've mastered the art and your fists are deadly weapons.**

 **+200% damage while using hand to hand**

 **20% chance to land a critical blow when using hand to hand**

"Look at you. Wow Tatsuki, we gotta get you some fist weapons because look at this."

She skipped over to the boy, elated by her absolute decimation of the enemy. "Huh. Look at that. Guess that makes though. Well, that just means this will be even easier than I thought! And hey! Look at that! Money!"

~GB~

Ichigo and Tatsuki had wandered through the castle slaying enemies left and right, for an hour all they ran into were the same groups of Infantryman, Archers, and Heavies. Tatsuki couldn't care less as she found complete and utter joy in rofl-stomping their enemies, she even got a few points in strength further increasing her damage! The entire time Ichigo couldn't but be happy with the entire situation, Tatsuki was having fun, they were making a lot of money since apparently they shared everything and his **Treasure Hunter** perk was working in full force. He even took a few minutes to teach her **observe** so that she could see her enemies health bars disappear with her own two eyes. Just as they were getting bored, having cleared out the entire castle of enemies, they stumbled upon a rather ominous looking door. The door was made of pitch black iron and seemed to emanate a black miasma.

"I'm guessing we have to go this way…"

"Yeah… I'm not touching it."

"I wouldn't ask you to." Stepping up to the evil looking door Ichigo firmly grasped it by its handle and pulled. Once, twice, three times, nothing happened. On the fifth try a blue screen popped up.

 **If you wish to enter the lair of Lord Krulp you must pay the blood toll.**

 **5,000 HP**

Reading that made Ichigo quickly suck in breath through his teeth. "5,000? That's almost all my HP! Holy crap."

"What's the matter? It's not like you'll be doing any of the fighting anyway. Just hang back and let me deal with things as I have been."

Ichigo knew he was going to agree, but being so low on health for the first time was making him uneasy. "I suppose you're right. Take your toll or whatever." He then began screaming out bloody murder as he felt his life being sucked out through his hand.

"Ichigo!" Tatsuki cried as she ran to him and tried to pry him free from the door.

But no amount of pulling would loose him and she had to endure an entire minute of her best male friend scream as he went through unimaginable pain. By the time it stopped Tatsuki was sobbing as she held onto Ichigo. Her proximity was a good choice since Ichigo crumpled onto her the second the door swung open.

"Ichigo? Ichigo! Ichi! Ichi!" She screamed when he didn't move at all.

"C'mon Ta-chan, you're giving me a headache. And why are you freaking out so much, we knew it wasn't going to kill me."

Hearing his voice calmed the girl down greatly to the point that she was able to answer him. "I-I know, but you were screaming so loudly and-and-and I thought you were dying and please don't do anything like that ever again Ichi. Please!" She said this into his stomach where she had buried her head.

"Hehe, you act real girly when you're sad you know that Tatsuki?" He grunted as she punched his stomach. "Sorry, but I can't promise you that especially when we have to get out of a place like this. So cheer up, you've got a whole bunch of ogres to pulverize and I'll be fine in an hour or so ok?"

Meekly she nodded into his chest before pulling away and wiping her face. "Yeah let's get to it." Some of her earlier confidence and determination was beginning to return.

Ichigo didn't mention the screen he had dismissed before she could see it. It worried him, but he was sure that they'd be fine.

 **Cursed!**

 **For the duration of this dungeon:**

 **Your HP has been reduced to half! You deal half damage. All incoming damage is doubled!**

' **Maximum Reinforcement**.'

 **-6,900 RK six times**

'Hah! I'm reducing 5,520 damage all over my body. We'll have to face someone like The Boss for me to be worried.'

The trip down equally ominous stairs was surprisingly short. Ichigo and Tatsuki found themselves in a large room lined with various, bloody instruments of torture. At a table against the far wall a single ogre, in a lab coat was writing something. An **observe** revealed that the duo were in for a lot more fighting.

 **Title: Ogre Torture Specialist**

 **Name: Lag'nuar Ik'thran**

 **Race: Ogre**

 **Level: 35**

 **HP: 600/600**

 **MP: 1,000/1,000**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 30**

 **Vit: 30**

 **Dex: 30**

 **Int: 40 + 10 = 50**

 **Wis: 40**

 **Luck: 5**

 **Charm: 0**

 **XP: 0/76,200**

 **Summary: These ogres have been trained and educated far beyond their peers. They've been tasked to conduct experiments that further science and magic in the name of their Lord. But mostly all they do is torture prisoners and slaves.**

 **Drops: XP, Yen, ?, ?, ?, ?**

'Those heavies dropped their axes almost every time, but this guys has golden question marks. Maybe those are the ultra rare drops?' Ichigo glanced at Tatsuki who did the exact same thing. She looked very angry, so Ichigo assumed she had read exactly what he had meaning her **observe** had gotten to a good level. No words were needed as Tatsuki nodded, sprinted towards her foe, and demolished him with critical blow to the head.

"I'm starting to _really_ not like this place Ichigo." Tatsuki said, a quiet rage evident in her voice.

"I know Tatsuki. But think about it this way, this isn't a real place… right? So in a way the torture and experiments these guys conduct isn't real. Just relax and decompress by erasing each and every enemy we find from existence. Sound good?"

"I guess."

"Good, there's a door over there, I'm guessing this place is turning into a normal video game dungeon so we'll probably start going further down. The crux of the situation being that enemies will also become more numerous and undoubtedly more difficult. I'll be ready to step in at a moments notice so… let's go."

"Since when do you use phrases like "crux of the situation"? Do you even know what "crux" means?"

"Not to be a dick, but my intelligence is pretty damn high. I should be asking you if you need clarification on what I said, not the other way around."

His retort caused her to frown uglily and glare at him, but she accepted it and headed towards the door.

~GB~

Things were going well until until they reached the fifth floor where they ran into the elites that the Heavy summary alluded to.

 **Title: Ogre Elite**

 **Name: Po'dan Krug'nax**

 **Race: Ogre**

 **Level: 45**

 **HP: 1,600**

 **MP: 400**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 60 + 20 = 80**

 **Vit: 60 + 20 = 80**

 **Dex: 60**

 **Int: 20**

 **Wis: 20**

 **Luck: 5**

 **Charm: 0**

 **XP: 0/306,600**

 **Summary: These ogres are the cream of the crop when it comes to combat. They have gone through years of rigorous training achieve the power they have and unlike their lesser brethren they have a brain to back it up.**

 **Drops: XP, Yen, ?, ?, ?, ?  
**

 **Bonuses**

 **Thick Skin**

 **Reduces all physical damage by 25%**

 **Rage**

 **At 25% health damage reduction is increased to 50% and damage is doubled**

A single heavy alone might not have been an issue for Tatsuki, but in that room there were also five torture specialists to back him up.

"Ok, so we know these guys have lighting magic they can throw at us so, sorry Tatsuki, but I'm going to take them out and leave the big guy to you ok?"

"Fine, I guess. Just hurry up ok? I wanna be done with this place." While there hadn't been any victims on the first floor, numerous bodies were found on the subsequent ones. The damage ranged from mostly untouched to torn apart bit by bit with tweezers, a sight that had caused Tatsuki to vomit in revulsion and horror.

Using **Limit Break** to maximize his speed Ichigo decapitated all five Torture Specialists with Asauchi in two seconds flat after which he immediately deactivated the deadly ability. Turning to Tatsuki he was pleasantly surprised to find her going blow to blow with the Ogre Elite. She caused it to activate **Rage** with her second blow and ended the opponent with her next one. Overall an anti-climactic fight, but one that definitely would have gone badly is Tatsuki was by herself.

They progressed through the floors much like they had before ending up on the tenth floor which held five Ogre Elites and twenty Torture Specialists. That fight caused some close calls when Ichigo decided to leave the elites to Tatsuki, but their vastly superior Dexterity resulted in two of them landing a couple blows at the same time while both were in **Rage**. That had been a scary moment when Tatsuki's health bar dropped down to below half. Ichigo didn't hesitate to once again activate **Limit Break** and kill all of the Elites dealing a whopping 3,967 damage to the enemies not in **Rage** and 2,645 to those in **Rage**. Unwittingly, he had finally used The Protector.

"Shit, Tatsuki, don't scare me like that."

"Oh, shut up, I was the one hit you know. But yeah, I was dumb. Instead of peppering them with punches I jumped into the middle of them. I don't know, I was hoping to confuse them, and I got one of them, but it didn't work out."

"Well, good that you recognize your mistake and all that. Uhm… that ornate, giant, stone door with gems all over it looks like it leads to the boss room. So let's just rest for a little while and then kill this boss." He took a moment to expand his **spiritual awareness** to over 1,000 yards. "And I'm pretty sure we've killed everyone we could, so we don't have to worry about being jumped."

"Sounds good." said Tatsuki as she sat down at on a wooden chair. She glanced at the books and journals that filled the table in front of her, but quickly put them down when she realized she couldn't read whatever language to ogres used. "Did we get any good loot?"

"Kinda I guess? Those weaker guys upstairs dropped almost nothing, but we did end up with a bunch of clubs from the heavies, but they're useless. Our fists do more damage. The Torture specialist dropped some more stuff. I got a bunch of the hand sickles that they were using, a couple of those lab coats they were wearing, it boosts intelligence by ten, but offers no defenses. They dropped a couple minor scrolls of healing which heal ten percent of HP over the course of a minute which seems pretty good. I also got two of the ultra rare drops which seem to be skill books that teach the ability **Lightning** which is what I'm guessing those guys were using on us. It requires 20 intelligence so sorry Tatsuki, you'll have to wait on this one." Ichigo then learned the ability.

 **Hado #4: Byakurai Lvl. 1**

 **The user channels reiryoku to the tips of their fingers, or their hands, and fires off a concentrated beam that comes out as lightning.**

 **RK Cost: 100 RK**

 **Activation Time: 5 seconds**

 **Damage: (50+Int+Wis) Lightning**

'Huh… so the game adapts stuff for my own use, makes sense I guess. Nice to know I have another ranged move, but I'll need to find a time to grind this and Sho. Probably that zombie dungeon.'

"It seems pretty cool, it's definitely worth putting points into intelligence for this."

"Yeah, yeah, shove it in my face why don't ya'?

"Sorry, but it's true. So the stuff we got from the elites… a bunch of the greatswords they were using, not impressive at all in my opinion. They're armor which boosts strength and vitality and… it's not gendered so we should actually put this on. Here ya' go." He tossed her one of the sets they had found.

They separated into different rooms to put them on and with Ichigo's **fast equip** he was able to put it on just a little bit faster. Thusly he was greeted to the sight of Tatsuki's bare bottom as she squeezed into the armor's leather bottoms, which looked fantastic on her. Face bright red he backed into the staircase he had just come from and yelled out, "You done in there?"

"Just give me one second, this thing is super tight. I think it molds to your body or something."

"Y-yeah, it definitely wasn't made for defense, but our clothes weren't doing anything you know."

"I guess, you can in now. BUT DON'T BE A PERVERT YOU HEAR ME?"

'Too late for that.' "Well I won't be as long as you aren't one either!" Ichigo said as he walked into the final room.

Unfortunately they were both perverts. The "armor" they now wore was less like armor and more like something you'd find on a fantasy fetish sight. Tatsuki wore what was essentially a leather bikini that had random metal studs all over it. It had pauldrons that somehow attached to the bikini top and a couple interconnected leather strips on her thighs. The only realistically practical things were the armguards and the knee high boots, but even those had unnecessary metal studs. The worst part was the studded collar that came with the "armor," she had to wear it! When she took it off because of how ridiculous it made her feel, and no doubt look, she lost the stat bonus it gave her! Tatsuki looked and felt like a fantasy pinup model, she just needed pointy ears and she'd be the wet dream of every D&D fan in Japan.

Ichigo wasn't faring much better. His "top" consisted of only four studded leather strips that connected to a metal ring that rested just below his ribcage His abdomen and nipples were completely exposed. His pants were a bit better than Tatsuki's because instead of just briefs his came with leather and fur chaps, but he still felt extremely exposed as the chaps only made his crotch all the more prominent. The air that licked the small strips of uncovered skin on his thighs made his feel dirty. He too wore a choker.

They kept their eyes glued to each others bodies as they eye-raped the fuck out of each other. For a solid ten minutes Tatsuki appreciated Ichigo's toned muscles while he appreciated the way her thighs flexed as she shifted from leg to leg. She ogled his now bulging crotch while he ogled the way her top squished her, bigger than he previously assumed, tits against her body. Their gazes meeting is what finally stopped the free peep shows and started the tense silence. The air was charged with something that neither of the fifteen year olds could exactly pinpoint. Finally Ichigo broke the silence when he realized that Tatsuki's health had returned to full.

"Uhh," the speech filler sounded extremely loud to the two gamers, "th-the elites also dropped a couple scrolls of minor defense which gives 5% damage reduction for three minutes, an-and the rare drop was a swordsmanship book. Either of us could learn it if-if you wanted to that is."

"Cool." was all Tatsuki said, not really answering his question.

"Uhm, okay. Wanna go fight the boss now?"

"Sure." Something about Tatsuki's clipped tone worried Ichigo. Her eyes seemed… distracted, as though her brain was trying to solve some sort of complicated riddle that had to do with him.

His guess wasn't too far off from the truth. 'Ichi's hot. Like really hot. Like holy fuck I want to eat off of his body. And in his briefs… that's for me isn't it. NNRRGGH, he's got a nice butt too. I wonder if he's single, pfft, of course he's single. But… dammit. Orihime has a big crush on him I'd feel bad.'

Just as Ichigo was going to clap his hands in front of her face Tatsuki seemed to come out of whatever reverie she had been stuck in. "What are you doing so close to me? Shoo. Let's go fight this boss."

"Hey, I wasn't the one stuck in la-la-land. Get your head in the game… hehe. And let's get to it."

Sexual tension mostly forgotten Ichigo strutted up towards the stone doors and began to push them open. With his absurd strength it wasn't an issue so the doors swung open like any normal doors would, startling whatever was inside.

"Who dares disturb my rest?" Rasped a guttural voice.

Walking in side-by-side Ichigo and Tatsuki were both greeted to the sight of an extremely large and aged ogre that sat upon a large, stone throne. Lord Krulp stood at an intimidating fourteen feet tall, but that was offset by his hunched and withered body. To add insult to injury the ornate and undoubtedly heavy armor he wore looked like it was keeping him trapped to his chair. He looked like he could be a great-grandfather's great-grandfather, and had the beard to match. Looking at him he probably had arthritis in every bone in his body. Oddly enough, he was not talking to the duo that had just entered, rather, he was speaking to a Torture Specialist that began speaking in some foreign language that neither teen could understand. Their entrance had apparently gone entirely unnoticed.

"That's wonderful news, give it here." said Lord Krulp.

The Specialist reached out both of his arms and presented the king with a large, glowing, green potion. The lord could barely hold it in his aged hands, but he eventually did and was able to bring the elixir up to his lips and down the bottle.

"Aww man Ichi, that doesn't look good."

"Oh hush, we're here for you and if he ends up a harder boss fight because of this all the better."

"I guess."

For a moment nothing happened, then Krulp began to scream and jerk around in his throne before falling silent and still. Then he began to laugh, but the raspy, choking laugh the teens had expected, rather, he laughed a deep, strong belly laugh that bounced off the walls and filled the room with noise. Krulp then stood up from his throne and flattened the Torture Specialist beneath his boot.

"Oh YES! This, this is glorious. I feel stronger than I did in my youth when I first conquered this fortress from those damned humans! Hahahahaha!" His laughing reminded him of his long, white beard. "Oh, this must go." He reached down and grabbed the sickle that once belonged to his loyal follower and gave himself a rough, but functional shave. By Tatsuki's standards he didn't look much better, but he did look as young as he sounded.

"Oh? And who might you be?"

"Oh, us?" Answered Ichigo. "No one special. We're just the ones who," he quickly blew up his spiritual awareness range just to be sure what he was about to say was true, "killed each and every one of your followers. Not a single person in this fortress is alive. You're welcome."

Tatsuki face-palmed as Lord Krulp's face began to twitch aggressively. "What did you say human?"

"We killed everyone, actually she killed everyone, I killed only a couple of guys."

Krulp's eyes widened in anger, "My army, my-my children!"

"Oof, feels bad man. Shoulda had stronger kids."

"You… You! How dare you! I'll tear you apart with my bare hands if I have to! You're dead!" He punctuated his tirade by screaming loudly which seemed to activate some sort of ability.

"Oh great Ichigo. Now he's got some sort of buff."

"Bah, his guy is probably a pushover, just like his kids. **Observe**."

 **Title: Lord of Felmere Fortress**

 **Name: Krulp Hig'Bar**

 **Race: High Ogre**

 **Level: 100**

 **HP: 10,400/10,400**

 **MP: 500/500**

 **Stats**

 **Str: (130*4) = 520**

 **Vit: (130*4) = 520**

 **Dex: 125**

 **Int: (50/2) = 25**

 **Wis: (50/2) = 25**

 **Luck: 10**

 **Charm: 5**

 **XP: 0/629,145,000**

 **Summary: Lord Krulp has reigned over Felmere Fortress for over two centuries. Unfortunately old age caught up to him and made him infirm and frail, but he was unwilling to go quietly. He tasked many of his descendents, who were the only remaining warriors in the castle, to discover some sort of elixir that could grant him his youth once more, by any means possible.**

 **Drops: XP, Yen, Great Soul, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?**

 **Bonuses**

 **Righteous Rage**

 **All damage is reduced by 50%. All damage dealt is tripled. Strength Vitality, and Dexterity have been doubled. Intelligence and Wisdom have been halved.**

 **Greatsword of Lord Krulp**

 **A greatsword fashioned specifically for Krulp to wield. It has tasted the blood of thousands and has gained a certain preference for it.**

 **Damage: (500 + Str*5 + Dex) = 3,620*3 = 10,860**

 **Effect: Gain 10% of Damage Dealt as Health**

 **Lord Krulp's Armor**

 **Reduces damage by 25%. Doubles Strength and Vitality, but halves Dexterity.**

 **Elixir of Youth**

 **Having just been restored to his youthful prime Krulp has gained immense health regen.**

 **1% health regenerated every second**

"Oh shit!" said Ichigo and Tatsuki simultaneously.

"You gotta run Tatsuki, I'll deal with this guy."

"But… the entrance is blocked off! I can't get out." Tatsuki knew when it was time to run and the second she saw Krulp's absurd stats she was bolting, Luckily she didn't have to deal with the horror that was his bonuses.

"Damnit, damnit! It's ok Tatsuki, I swear to you. We're going to be fine. I'll protect you with my life." A small smirk graced his youthful features as he said those words. 'Hell yeah, the protector is totally going to proc which I'm going to desperately need.'

Drawing Asauchi and the Basic Katana, luckily it still had over 30 points in durability, Ichigo activated **Limit Break** and prepared himself to meet the ogre head on. 'Luckily my **reinforcement** is blocking around around 5,500 damage, as long as I don't take a direct hit I shouldn't have to worry. Not to mention **Limit Break** doubles my Dex so I'll be dancing all over this guy. It's actually killing him that will be a problem, if it drags on for too long **Limit Break** might be to one to kill me.' Some rough calculations on Ichigo's part had him dealing around 1,750 damage to Krulp each time he hit him with both swords. But he was regenerating so quickly that the fight was becoming more of a race every second.

"Whatever I'll just have to chop off those arms of yours and this won't be an issue."

His **lightning reflexes** , superior dexterity, and **dodge** level made avoiding Krulp's initial swing easy as pie. He followed up the dodge by taking a swing at Krulp's left shoulder which successfully removed the limb causing Krulp to scream in agony and attempt to slow the gushing purple blood.

 **Debilitating Critical**

 **Lord of Felmere Fortress**

 **Krulp Hig'Bar**

 **[6,867/10,400]**

 **[500/500]**

 **[Bleeding]**

"Damn, cutting off limbs isn't even fair, I've just countered you're dumb regen and severely lowered your ability to fight in a single move. I don't even know why I was worried." Shaking his head Ichigo leapt at Lord Krulp and took off his right arm.

 **Debilitating Critical**

 **Lord of Felmere Fortress**

 **Krulp Hig'Bar**

 **[3,334/10,400]**

 **[500/500]**

 **[Bleeding]**

"Man, I think swords break this game, either that or I'm just really good at chopping off limbs. Hey Tatsuki, wanna finish this guy off?" he said as he deactivated **Limit Break**.

Grossed out as she was Tatsuki couldn't turn down the offer. "Hell yeah." Unfortunately she was only dealing 315 damage per punch. So she redirected her attention to the now crying lord's head, each punch there resulted in a critical and five punches later his head exploded in a gory, purple mess.

 **You're curse has been lifted.**

"Eww, eww, eww, eww, eww, eww! Ichigo what the hell!"

It took a lot of self control for Ichigo to not laugh at Tatsuki's purple body, "Hey, no one told you to squish his head like that. What'd you think would happen when you started punching his face?"

"Gah, Whatever we need to find a bath quick because I refuse to walk around like this."

"Well, we are in a throne room and I bet you all the money in the world that Krulp here hasn't left in years so there has to be a bathroom somewhere."

"I really hope you're right, deal with the loot while I go find it." Without a second glance back Tatsuki stalked off to find a bathroom giving Ichigo ample time to stare at her butt.

"That was nice, anyway. What'd you drop big guy?"

In a neat pile laid several items for Ichigo's perusal. Most obviously, and importantly in his opinion, was a smaller version of Krulp's armor. It was rather gaudy with a base color of purple and with multiple gold engravings and even a few gems littered around the armor. Unlike the elite armor, this was heavy plate mail that covered every inch of the wearer. Ichigo was delighted to see a cool looking helmet included in the set, he was willing to bet that this had been the ultra rare drop.

 **Lord Krulp's Armor [Full Set]**

 **Description: This armor was once worn by Lord Krulp of the Felmere Fortress. He was a mighty warrior once feared for his battle prowess throughout the land. One day an ancient ogre wizard approached the young Krulp and offered to craft him a most magnificent armor in recognition of his great power. The armor served him well and was one of the reasons Krulp was able to take Felmere Fortress which had been held by a human merchant lord for several centuries.**

 **Requirements: 130 Str, 130 Vit, 125 Dex**

 **Effects: Reduces all incoming Damage by 25%, Doubles Strength, Vitality, and Charisma, but halves Dexterity**

"Pretty cool, it does everything it did for Krulp with a little extra because of the Charisma bonus. I really don't care about it but whatever. I'll put this on later." He threw the armor into his inventory and reached for the next item which happened to be a large battleaxe. "What's this doing here?"

 **Ogre Slayer's Greataxe Lvl. 1/100**

 **Description: A large axe that once belonged to a human warrior known for his hatred of ogre's. It is said that he slew so many of the green folk that even his axe grew a particular hatred for them.**

 **Requirements: 150 Str**

 **Damage: 500 + Str**

 **Effect: 150% Increased damage against Ogre-kind**

"Pretty cool. Too bad I don't think that I'll be fighting too many ogres, but still." He put the axe that was almost as tall as he was into his inventory and then grabbed a small book. "A book? From this guy? What's it for?"

 **Recipe Book [Elixir of Greater Health Regeneration]**

 **Requirements: 100 Int, 50 Wis**

 **Ingredients: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?**

 **Crafting Time: 3 Days**

"Oh snap, I can't even learn this. This definitely isn't for me though. Maybe if we get someone who ends up a healer they can use it, until then… goodbye." He casually tossed the book into his inventory. "What's left? This looks useful."

 **Felmere Fortress Key**

 **It's a key that opens each and every door in Felmere Fortress, no exceptions.**

"Great, now we can look for loot throughout the castle. Money is...300,000,000 yen, yay for **Treasure Hunter**. Another big soul, which will eventually be useful maybe? And finally a necklace."

 **Necklace of Fertility**

 **Description: Enchanted long ago by a powerful sorceress at the request at an infertile king this necklace assures pregnancy.**

 **Effect: 100% Conception, +20 to Charisma**

"Ergh, this makes me feel dirty just by holding it. What did a guy like him need this necklace for…? Duh, his whole army was just his kids, but then who were the mothers? Things to think about. I think I'm all done here. I wonder if Tatsuki found the bathroom?"

~GB~

 **AN: As expected, this took a whole chapter to get through and to be honest if I really wanted to I could have pumped this full of small asides where Ichigo and Tatsuki find various places and enemies, but I purposely wanted this place to be a little generic.**

 **Depending on how this is received I'll think about making a game update where players, i.e. Ichigo and Tatsuki, get an MP bar and use full on magic. But the whole lightning=byakurai thing is how I want to do it, but we'll see.**

 **Please, like always, leave a thoughtful review. And by that I mean take a big ol' steamy shit on my story if you think something was amazingly dumb. The whole "no pain no gain" saying definitely applies to writing.**

 **Thx ;)**


	10. GoT Flashbacks

**AN: I say it almost every chapter, but being ahead is a surreal feeling. I might just put this story on hold and completely rewrite Goku the Gamer. The praise and tons of fun I've had with this story really make me want to work on that one again.**

 **I didn't describe the pain well from Ichigo's perspective. It's like all of the pain a woman endures during childbirth, but within the span of a minute and ten times worse.**

 **For you Game of Thrones fans out there: Remember Craster?**

 **Uhm… I don't really know what to say.**

~GB~

Chapter 9 Summary: Ichigo and Tatsuki clear out the fortress and kill the boss. Tatsuki does most of the killing and Ichigo has to fight the boss on half health… this story doesn't have a lot of tension huh?

~GB~

Chapter 10: GoT Flashbacks 

"Where is the fucking bathroom?"

Tatsuki had been walking around the throne room for a few minutes which had allowed the purple blood that covered her from head to toe to dry. She desperately needed to get clean. Finally, along the back wall Tatsuki found three unassuming, wooden doors.

She opened the first one, "A study?"

The room had a very cozy atmosphere. A large and ornate rug covered most of the stone floor and the wall were lined with several, very full bookshelves. Against the furthest wall was a large desk and chair clearly made to accommodate Krulp's size. If she weren't on a mission to find a bath to soak in Tatsuki would have gladly spent some time rifling through the desk drawers and bookshelves just in case there were any hidden goodies.

The next door refused to open.

The third door answered all of Tatsuki's prayers. The bathroom was set up to be like a ritzy bath house with floors and walls covered with beautiful red cedar wood and a huge bath dominating the center. There were two shower heads to the immediate let and right of the entrance and just a little beyond them, several racks of fluffy white towels could be seen. The wall were also engraved with magnificent depictions of nature that attributed to the zen-like atmosphere.

Sighing with relief Tatsuki discarded her soiled "armor" and began rinsing herself off with one of the shower heads. In a glorious turn of events she discovered that she did not have to wait for the water to warm up because it came out that way! There was also a bar of soap on a small pedestal that she could use which smelled divine. Once she had scrubbed away all of the disgusting purple blood that had crusted on her skin Tatsuki slipped into the steaming tub. The feeling of the warm water, that had clearly been treated with numerous minerals and oils, washing over her slightly raw skin was orgasmic. Never before had Tatsuki experienced such luxury while bathing.

At absolute peace, and seated comfortably on an outcropping within the pool, Tatsuki gently drifted off into dreamland.

~GB~

Done with the loot Ichigo went off in search of Tatsuki, and maybe a place to use the key he had found. A good distance behind the throne Krulp had been seated upon Ichigo found three wooden doors. The one on the far left was open and steam was wafting out of it in droves making Ichigo assume that Tatsuki had successfully found the bathroom and was enjoying it as much as possible. Not wanting another awkward encounter Ichigo decided to enter the door on the right, surprised to find a rather cozy study.

"Didn't think Krulp would be the kind of guy who needed this kind of room. But I guess he was pretty old and old people love their… reading? What do old people like? Whatever, I bet there's some good stuff here."

Wanting to save the desk for last Ichigo began rifling through the shelves. He quickly discovered that the only books that would truly interest him were glowing with a faint light.

 **Skill Book: Iron Fists**

 **Use to learn the ability [Iron Fists]**

 **[Active Combat] Iron Fists Lvl. 1**

 **The user coats their hand in a metallic substance maximizing hand to hand damage.**

 **Cost: 1,000 RK**

 **Duration: 1 minute**

 **Damage Increase: 1%**

 **Effect: Strength gains are easier**

 **Learning Requirements: 20 Str**

"Ugh… this sucks, but it's probably great at higher levels. I've already got **reinforcement** so I'm sure Tatsuki will be able to put this to good use." Tossing the book into his inventory Ichigo got back to work.

After thirty minutes of scouring the extensive bookshelves Ichigo ended up finding four more skill books and something unexpected.

 **Skill Book: Traditional Ogre Combat**

 **Skill Book: Basic First Aid**

 **Skill Book: Fireball**

 **Skill Book: Sharpening**

 **Language Book: Ogre**

"Well… it was a bit less than what I was hoping for, but maybe the desk will have something interesting."

The desk didn't have anything interesting, but while giving the room a final once over Ichigo found a couple of history books that looked interesting.

 **Felmere Fortress and the Surrounding Lands**

 **A History Alderia**

 **The Rise and Fall of the Myrkuxian Empire**

 **The Founding of New Unjella City**

 **A Short History of High Elves and Their Customs**

 **The Great Human-Merfolk Trade Agreement**

"I'll hold onto these in case I come back here." Done with the study Ichigo left and almost ran right into Tatsuki who was, disappointingly, wearing her normal clothes.

"All done with the bath?"

Tatsuki closed her eyes and reminisced on her glorious bath for a moment before answering. "Oh Kami, Ichigo. That bathroom in amazing, you _need_ to use it."

"Really now? I'll be sure to do that, but first I want to see what's in the middle door."

"Oh ok," she answered before remembering that she couldn't open the door in question before her bath, "but that one's locked."

"That's fine, the boss dropped a key that, quote, "opens each and every door in Felmere Fortress," so we'll be able to get in."

"Huh? That's convenient. Well open that bad boy up, I wanna head home and fall asleep in my bed. Today has been exhausting."

Following her instruction Ichigo unlocked the door and opened it revealing a hallway.

Ichigo was perturbed by the lack of a treasure room, "Really? Another hallway? Ugh. C'mon Tatsuki, I doubt there will be any more enemies."

She was also disappointed but didn't bother saying anything as she followed him down the dark hallway.

A few meters in the hallway became pitch black as the light shining from the throne room failed to reach that far in. The hallway didn't change in any manner for another twenty meters until Ichigo suddenly stopped.

"I think we're at some stairs. Be careful."

The stairs turned out be a spiral staircase, but the steps were even and the teens had no trouble walking down them. They were unnerved by the lack of light, but since they were confident that they wouldn't have to fight anymore they pressed on. The duo had to walk for almost twenty minutes before finally coming to a top on a landing that, thankfully, was lit with a few torches. Unfortunately what they found was anything but pleasant.

The torches didn't cast enough light to see the entire room clearly, but Ichigo guessed that it was around thirty by thirty in feet. Along the left and right walls were bars indicating cells, and within those cells…

"Oh Ichigo that's horrible!" Cried Tatsuki and she hugged his arm and tried to hide away from the sight.

Within the cells were what seemed to be female orcs. They were all completely naked and attached to the walls by thick iron chains. Some of them were asleep, some of them were softly crying, and a few of them seemed dead. A quick count revealed that there were around forty women ranging from extremely old to newly born, some of the ogres were even pregnant.

"Oh Kami… uhm. Do any of you understand me?"

Ichigo was desperately trying to figure out what to do about all these women. They were clearly the answer to his earlier question about where all the ogres had come from, now he wished he didn't know. Several minutes passed and none of the women said anything.

"Let's go Tatsuki."

"Wha-what do you mean "let's go?" We've got to free them!"

"I-I can't do that if we don't understand each other. Who knows what they'll do once we set them free. If they don't like how I killed their… jailor we could end up having to kill them. And even if they're thankful we have no way of helping them beyond that. I didn't see a kitchen anywhere so I have to assume those guys hunted for all their food and cooked it immediately. These women would die if left alone and guess what Tatsuki? This is a game. These ogre women aren't real. So let's just- wait. Another door. Let's see what's in there."

As Ichigo tried to walk he found that Tatsuki's grip on his arm had tightened to the point of becoming painful.

"What did you say?" her voice was low and dangerous.

Ichigo sighed knowing that Tatsuki probably hated what he had said. "Stop, stop, stop. Relax, there's a door over here and if I know anything about this game it's that there'll be some magical mcguffin behind it. And who knows, maybe it'll solve this problem for us. So please relax Tatsuki."

She didn't respond and refused to look at him, Sighing in defeat Ichigo went towards the door and out the key into the keyhole, but instead of simply opening a familiar blue screen appeared.

 **Alert!**

 **In order to open this door sacrifices must be made.**

 **-5,000 HP**

 **-100 Str**

"What the hell! For real?" His exclamation got nothing out of Tatsuki. "Fine."

Ichigo could practically feel his strength fade and the hit to his health points was once again agonizing. His screams got a reaction out of Tatsuki, just not one he wanted.

"Feh, that's what you get for being a dick."

Once the pain faded Ichigo rounded on his female companion anger clear in his features, "What the fuck did you say?"

Undaunted by his rage Tatsuki answered, "I said-"

Ichigo punched one of the pillars in the room crumbling it to dust in the process. "I know what you said Tatsuki! This world isn't real! This women aren't real! My pain, that was real! That was agonizing and I've felt it twice now! Get the FUCK out of my face before I do something I might regret!"

Normally Tatsuki would have scoffed at such a threat, but she knew that she had never seen her friend this angry and that at the moment a single punch from Ichigo could kill her. So she made the safe choice and left.

It took Ichigo several minutes to fine calm down enough to the point that he no longer wanted to choke Tatsuki to death using her intestines. At that moment he noticed a large amount of wetness on his cheeks. Embarrassed that he had been so angry that he cried Ichigo quickly wiped at his cheeks on for his hands to come back extremely. In the low light Ichigo hadn't realized that his sight was rather non-existent as a result of popping a shit ton of blood vessels in his eyes.

"Shit." Taking deep breaths in order to further calm himself down Ichigo felt the guilt of what he'd done wash over him. "Shit." Walking over to the entrance to the staircase Ichigo yelled, "Tatsuki? Can you come back? I'm, I'm sorry for yelling at you… I-I need you help." Blinking rapidly had done nothing to clear his sight making him nearly blind.

Silence reigned for nearly ten minutes before Ichigo could hear Tatsuki's footsteps as she descended the staircase.

Compelled to further apologize he said, "I know you were just mad at me for not free the women, but you've got to understand that I think whatever is in that room can help them! I promise not to do something like that again, so please forgive me."

He couldn't see her, but he definitely her her cry out in shock when she saw him.

"Ichigo! Oh Kami, what on earth happened!" she said as she rushed to his side.

"Heh, I guess my blood pressure got a little too high. I actually thought I was crying until I realized my hands were sticky. But uhm, I can't see what's in the door anymore so could you help me?"

Tatsuki sniffled as she fought back tears. 'For Ichi to have been that angry? How much pain had he been in? I was so cruel…' "Of course Ichi, c'mon." For whatever reason the price that the door had asked of him left Ichigo completely and utterly exhausted, forcing him lean on Tatsuki for support.

When they got to the door Tatsuki felt even worse. In a tiny room an astonishingly beautiful creature was chained to the wall. But that beauty was tarnished by the absurd amount of scars that littered her body, none were too gruesome, indicating that whoever had done the job had used knives. It took a lot of self control for her not to break down crying, but she didn't want to scare Ichigo.

Shuffling forward Tatsuki tried to get the naked beauty's attention by poking her with her foot. It took a couple of nudges but eventually she opened her eyes, except they weren't there. Tatsuki couldn't hold back the gasp of absolute horror that came out of her mouth.

"What's wrong Tatsuki?" Ichigo had closed his eyes in an effort to relieve the stinging pain he felt in them, he hadn't realized he had been drifting off to sleep.

"N-nothing Ichigo, d-don't worry about it. Uhm, excuse me miss? D-do you understand me?"

The elf, if her pointy ears were anything go by, said nothing for as if considering the two people in front of her. Her empty stare deeply disturbed Tatsuki, especially when the elf's eye sockets were locked with hers.

"I do youngling. Have you come to set me free?" Her voice was smooth and rich like fresh honey, once again surprising Tatsuki who had expected a raspy, pain filled one.

"I mean… kinda? We didn't come here looking for you, but after killing everyone-"

That statement shocked the chained woman who suddenly tried to stand up only to fail terribly. A certain desperation seemed to fill her voice, "Truly! You've slain Krulp?"

"Well, not me exactly. I mean I landed the killing blow, but if it weren't for this guy-"

"Oh praise be to Kori!" Tear spilled from her eye sockets. "Thank you, thank you so much strangers. Anything, anything you wish of me I will do. I am forever in your servitude."

"Oh, well…" Tatsuki stood up straight and rested Ichigo against the wall. She then grabbed the key from the keyhole and proceeded to unshackle the elf woman. "There's a bunch of female ogres in cells just outside of this room. We were wondering if you knew their language?"

"Females! That monster!" Without skipping a beat she attempted to stand only to crumple to the ground uselessly. "Ahh, it seems the years have worn my bones."

Tatsuki wanted to help her, but the woman was easily a foot taller than she was, so she nudged Ichigo, who had fallen asleep against the wall. "Hey Ichi, you've got to pick up this lady, uhm, what's your name?"

"Soliania Dorralei, Queen of the Elves of Felmere Forest."

"Oh? Ichi, pick up Sol-i-an-nia please."

Yawning into wakefulness Ichigo tried to open his eyes, only to discover the process was quite painful thanks to the crusty blood that acted like super glue.

"Sure, no problem. Where is she?"

Tatsuki wanted to slap her forehead in exasperation. 'Of course he still can't see!' Going for his arm she said, "I'll-"

"Just follow my voice young one." Interrupted Soliania.

For some reason Tatsuki did not like the way Soliania had said that. There was an edge to the queen's voice that had not been there before and it grated her nerves. Her biggest issue with it was that the woman didn't even have eyes! How could she possibly see how cute Ichigo was?

"Ok." Unaware of his friend's thoughts Ichigo immediately went towards the voice.

"Over here."

"Alright."

"Stop!"

"Whoops. Now what?"

"Alright now bend over. Good. Feel my hand?"

"C'mon lady, I can't open my eyes. I'm not stupid."

"My apologies." She guided it towards the back of her neck. "Your hand is on my neck, please be careful."

"I've got you." Ichigo tried to find a balance between firmness and gentleness as he gripped her neck.

Soliania then grabbed his other hand and brought it towards her butt. Tatsuki almost said something, but then she thought, 'What the heck could I say? It's not like Ichi's my boyfriend or anything. He can feel up this eyeless elf all he wants.' She hated thinking that.

Feeling his hand on some surprisingly soft and fatty tissue Ichigo immediately attempted to wrap his arm around what he assumed to be her legs. Unfortunately, he had not anticipated that fact that Soliania had raised her right leg to make it easier for him to find it. So when he moved his hand forward he was surprised to feel squishy skin that felt distinctly like lips. Confused by what he felt he groped around a bit only to be further confused by the rough hair he felt. It took the sulty moan of the woman almost in his arms to make the boy realize exactly what it was that he had been molesting. He almost jumped away in horrified shame, if it weren't for the grip he had on the woman's neck that's exactly what he would have done.

"I-I am so, so sorry." Blood quickly turned Ichigo's face bright red. 'I-I-I didn't mean to-"

"Oh relax child. It's not like I didn't enjoy it."

If Ichigo's face turned any redder he would start bleeding from his pores. Tatsuki on the other hand was confident that Soliania had purposely made it so that Ichigo would touch her there, she just didn't know what to do or say.

The half shinigami, half hollow, hollow harboring boy was frozen before remembering he was trying to pick the woman up. It took little to no effort for him to find her other leg and successfully cradle her in a princess carry.

"What? Done so soon? Was the feeling not to your liking? I haven't been able to groom down there in so long…" The elven queen's voice sounded almost sad at the possibility.

"N-No! It felt great! It was all soft and squishy and-" Ichigo didn't want her to feel bad over something she couldn't possibly have controlled. Which was why he was so confused when she laughed.

"Haha! You are absolutely adorable. I could eat you up. Anyway, your female companion over here said that there are female ogres out there locked up. Is that true?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Ma'am? What am I your grandmother? Call me Soli."

"Just. Stop." Tatsuki got behind Ichigo and led him out the small room and into the larger one. She then brought them towards one of the cell doors that had an awake ogre behind them. "One of them's awake right here, she's even looking at us."

"Hmph. Fine. Ruin my first bit of fun in years. It's not like I was trying to steal your boyfriend away from you."

Tatsuki wanted to protest that fact, but Soliania immediately began speaking in a harsh and all around ugly language to the woman behind the bars.

Several minutes passed as Tatsuki watched the women converse in the hideous foreign language. The ogre woman, who seemed on the younger side in comparison to her fellow prisoners and was pregnant, went through a myriad of emotions as they talked, but she ended on happiness.

"Okay, I've explained what you've done and she's obviously grateful. Turns out that all these girls, besides having been Krulp's baby making machines, are his daughters, granddaughters, great-granddaughters and so on and and so forth. Disgusting isn't it?"

The teens almost threw up at the revelations, but ultimately it just made them happier to have slain such a monster.

"She says that you just have to free her and she'll tell the others about what has happened. A few of them are loyal to Krulp so she'll have to calm them down before we release them."

Ichigo said, "That's so sad. But I guess it makes sense, Stockholm syndrome and all that."

"Stockholm syndrome?" asked Soliania.

"Oh yeah… we're not from around here so you might have a different word for it. It's when hostages begin feeling sympathy, love, care, whatever for their kidnappers."

"Ahh, we have no word for it, but I know of what you speak. It's a sad, sad situation. I imagine several of these girls will have this Stockholm syndrome."

"I just hope none of them try to kill us." interjected Tatsuki.

"Oh I very much doubt that. They're weak and starved and they knew Krulp was a ogre of monumental strength. For you to have defeated him…" Soliania trailed off to stare at Ichigo's face.

The silence quickly made Tatsuki uncomfortable, "Yeah, yeah, we get it. Ichigo's super strong."

Ichigo couldn't help but be a bit bashful for the praise. "Hehe, thanks. While we wait, why don't you tell us about yourself Soli." He couldn't help but be curious about the extremely light woman he held in his arms.

"Oh, your so thoughtful Ichigo. Well what can I say? I'm the queen of the Felmere Elves… or at least I was. They've probably replaced me with my bitch of a sister by now. Seven centuries ago I married a wonderful human named Erik, we built this fortress in order to give his merchant group a safe place to operate from, these lands were rather dangerous in those times." She sighed wistfully. "Anyway, some far away king made Erik a lord in order to force some troops onto us. It wasn't a big issue until we began to constantly war with the neighboring orcs. Years passed, Erik died. My eldest, Arun, became lord of the castle, he ruled for 200 years before passing. It was so sad to see my children die of old age before me." Her sigh was noticeably sadder this time. "One day a few centuries later while I was returning from a visit to my people, running a small civilization is difficult you know, I saw the fortress aflame. I tried… I tried-."

At this point Soliania was crying so hard she couldn't speak. Having some experience with sad females Ichigo simply held her closer, trying to comfort her with his presence and care. It took several minutes for the queen to cry herself dry, but she did and continued with her story.

"I tried to help fight off the ogres, but there were too many. My magic could only do so much and to be honest I was never one for fighting. Krulp had already slain my great-grandson Richard and most of our army before I could get to the throne room. Even in my rage I was far too tired to possibly defeat him. Instead of killing me he kept me down here. He never… used me, but he took great joy in maring my body with slice after slice of his sword, never allowing the cuts to heal properly. He took my eyes one day after I laughed at him, I wanted to show him he hadn't broken me, but that hurt me deep in my soul. And now here we are."

After the queen's painfully tragic story a thick silence fell over the trio. Neither teen knew what to say to try and comfort her. Ichigo did all he could be holding her close so that she knew that she was no longer alone, that she was no longer a prisoner. Tatsuki could only look on in slight jealousy, but she knew if anyone needed a hug from Ichigo it was Soliania, not her. Finally Ichigo broke the relative silence, the murmur of talking ogre women was beginning to rise as more of them woke up, by asking the question that had been on his mine since the beginning of Soliania's story.

"You're over 700 years old?" he blurted out.

Soliania's beautiful laugh rang clear through the dungeon, bouncing off the wall and filling all the inhabitants with inexplicable joy. "Oh sweet child, if my estimation is correct I'll be closing in on 750 soon. Even then I still have another millenia in me. What's the matter, am I too old for you now? That by touching me down there you've contracted some sort of ancient disease?"

"No! I just, you know. We humans don't live nearly that long so your age is very impressive to me. Yeah."

"Impressive eh? I didn't think you'd be interested in older women what with your little girlfriend over there. I'm flattered."

"What? Me and (Tatsuki/Ichigo) nooooooo." Both teens answered simultaneously.

"Really now. Then maybe I do have a shot." Soliania said as she through her arms around Ichigo's neck.

"Wait right there you old hag. Ichigo's way too young for you. And besides-"

"Are you sure you two aren't dating because you're acting quite defensive little miss thing. Or maybe you _do_ want to date him?" Accused Soliania.

Tatsuki blushed, "What? No! It's just that… that… that all the ogre women are up and that first one is coming back and you need to talk to her. Yeah." She was eternally grateful for the ogre's timing because she knew that that discussion was going to bad places.

If empty eye sockets could twinkle Soliania's did at Tatsuki's deflection. Nonetheless she turned to the ogre woman and began talking to her in that hideous language. It was only a few minutes later that Soliania turned back to Tatsuki and told her to free all the shackled women.

"Are you sure?" she couldn't help but ask. She knew that the women posed no threat to her, but the idea that she would have to defend herself from them made her feel sick to her stomach.

"Yes, I am child. Now please free these poor girls."

Still hesitant Tatsuki got to work. It took her a little while to free all the ogres from each cell but thankfully the process wasn't lengthened by an angry female lashing out at her. When she finished her job Tatsuki walked back to Ichigo and Soliania and waited to hear what the queen had to say. For the most part it seemed that the ogres were happy with their freedom and that above all filled Tatsuki's heart with joy.

"Well, now that their all freed I'm going to tell them to follow us. Unless Krulp did something absurd to the castle I should still know the layout, more or less. We'll be leading them to the servants quarters which is right next to the kitchen, after all, I doubt any of these girls want to be away from each other right now."

Soliania then turned to the pregnant woman they had first talked to and barked in that strange language what the teens had to assume what she had just told them. With a nod at Ichigo after she finished talking, they were off.

~GB~

Situating the woman into the servants quarters was easy as pie and showing them the kitchen was equally simple. A new, pressing issue reared its head as they looked through the kitchen, there was no food. As Tatsuki and Ichigo had inferred earlier there was no food that was being preserved. Sure there was a kitchen which they were wrong about, but it didn't matter much if said kitchen couldn't feed anyone.

Ichigo was the one who posed the obvious solution. "I guess I'll go out and hunt. That's so weird to say."

"Why are you saying that as if I weren't here Ichigo?"

"Well, to be honest I'm still a bit worried about all these ogres. On one hand they really can't defend themselves so if something happens one of us needs to be there to help. On the other there no way I can bring Soli here," she was still in his arms looking awfully comfortable form Tatsuki's perspective, "so I'll have to leave her behind, but these women might get up to some bad ideas if we aren't here. So again, I'd appreciate it if you stayed behind. The last thing is that you could go, but let's be real, I'm much faster than you and my use of swords would make killing prey much cleaner than you pummeling them to death with your fists. So, are we in agreement?"

Tatsuki wanted to argue, but she knew Ichigo's logic was sound. "Fine… let's put Soli on one of the free bunks and then you can go wash your face."

Just as they laid her down Soli spoke up, "The bathrooms are to the right Tatsuki. And I can tell you're still tired champion, allow me to heal you with what little power has returned to me."

Before he could protest Ichigo felt a warm glow fill his entire body, if he could open his eyes he'd notice the little health bar in the upper left corner of his peripheral vision. He'd also have seen his exhausted status removed, something Tatsuki did see wondering how she had missed it the first time around.

"Thank you." The redhead said. "But you shouldn't have done that. I would have been just fine and you need your rest." He reached out his hand to grasp Soliania's. "But thank you." He was in awe that this woman would exert herself to help him despite all she had gone through. As it were she should be dead asleep for the next week as she tried to heal.

Soliania smiled, a soft smile that Tatsuki had not seen on the queen before, and moved her hand from Ichigo's grasp to his gently stroke his face. Unlike all their interactions before Tatsuki knew there was absolutely nothing seductive or playful about the touch. If anything it reminded how her mother used to comfort her whenever she had nightmares when she was young. The entire interaction was amazingly serene in the face of everything that they had just gone through and learned.

"You're welcome child." Soliania then shifted from the caring tone to a more playful tone breaking the spell that held the trio, "Now go out there and get some food, I'm starving!"

Ichigo chuckled and reached for Tatsuki, "Alright, alright, let's go clean me up and I'll be on my way."

It was a simple process to clean of Ichigo's face, and once he was able to open his eyes again he was relieved to find his sclera untainted. "Thank Kami, I was worried I'd have red sclera for the rest of my life." He then turned to Tatsuki who was still standing by him. They were finally alone after the little adventure they found themselves in after slaying the boss. "You know, I'm sorry for what I did. I swear on my life I'll never, ever do something like that again no matter the situation. I lost control of my emotions, surprising considering the Gamer's Mind perk. But anyway-"

"Stop Ichi, I shouldn't have said what I did. I'm sure you were going through a lot of pain and just like you promised there was an answer to out problems. I should have trusted you more. But I accept your apology, as long as you can forgive me as well."

"Of course." Both teens felt a weight they had been carrying since their little fight lift, shooting relief throughout their bodies. They were finally friends again after so many years, neither wanted to lose that over an argument.

"Well get out of here, I'm pretty hungry myself after all that time we spent killing ogres and then this whole mess. Kami! What time is it?"

"Uhh," Ichigo quickly opened up the menu, "I'm actually getting two clocks right now. One says 3:15 and the other says 5:30. So, I think the 5:30 is the real world because that was around the time we left and when we were walking here the sun was still bright in the sky so it makes sense for it to 3:15 in this world. So maybe time is stopped while we're here or something? Either way we can go back to the gym after this if you'd like? Or better yet, we can cook… second dinner? Eat it, sleep, and then leave."

"That honestly sounds great… Krulp and his goons on the lower levels showed me that if I want to keep up I have to be stronger, so being able to use the gym as we please sounds great. Besides, we might be here for a little while longer, I really want to be sure that these women are taken care of."

"I understand. Well, I'm off, please be careful while I'm gone."

Tatsuki snorted, "Idiot, What's going to happen? Get out of here."

"Fine, See you soon I hope. Kami I hope hunting isn't too hard."

~GB~

 **AN: Once again I write too much and exactly as anticipated two entire chapters have been dedicated to this place with maybe a third.**

 **I hope you guys are liking this little aside. To be honest I really don't know what to do with the plot because I want canon to happen to some degree, but I also want to write a whole bunch of crazy stuff. Actually, I have an idea. I don't know if you readers will like it though.**

 **Anyway, please leave a thoughtful review.**

 **Thx ;)**


	11. Felmere

**AN: I've got a serious problem. Here I am writing chapter eleven and yet the 8/9 double feature hasn't gone up. Whatever, I'm sure you reader's love it.**

 **Uhm, sorry ahead of time if you guys are sick and tired of this place, chances are I'll spend most if not all of this chapter on it.**

 **On with the story.**

~GB~

Chapter 10 Summary: Incestuous slave harem. And a pretty… pretty old elf lady.

~GB~ 

Chapter 11: Felmere

Turns out hunting was easy as balls when you can cut an animal in half before it realizes you're there because you're going way too fast for said animal to possibly comprehend your existence.

"Man **treasure hunter** is the best!"

Ichigo had been hunting for close to an hour. With his spiritual awareness stretched to its maximum distance he could instantly pinpoint the location of tons of animals. Luckily the animals in the dungeon, world, thing, were mostly the same as the ones in the real world so Ichigo was never too surprised by an outlandish beast allowing it to attempt to escape. Since **treasure hunter** doubled his drops he was consistently getting twenty and thirty pounds of flesh from deer, ten and twenty pounds from warthogs, and he was even getting one and two pounds from the few rabbits he killed. He ha thus far collected close to 900 pounds of deer meat, 200 pounds of warthog meat, and 40 pounds of rabbit meat. That wasn't even including all the pelts he received from the animals, of which he usually received to per kill, which numbered close to 100.

He was so confident in his haul that he used limit break in order to get back to Felmere Fortress quicker. Just as he was hoping not a single thing went wrong with the girls. Tatsuki seemed to be chatting with Soliania and all the ogre women had broken into several small groups in order to socialize. The few young girls were actually playing with each other as he almost tripped over a youngling that was hiding under a table he passed by. The sight was uplifting to say the least.

"I'm back!" he couldn't resist becoming the center of attention by yelling out his return for all to hear.

As expected all eyes turned to him, but it was Soliania who spoke up first. "And where's all this food you've gotten us? You sound awfully peppy to have returned empty-handed?"

Undeterred by her doubt Ichigo simply reached into his inventory and pulled out a ten pound slab of deer meat. "I am hardly empty handed. I brought enough food to feed you girls for an entire season… I hope."

Soliania and the ogre women were shocked by the display, but Ichigo knew it wasn't in the way his neighbors or friends would be so it didn't worry him. "You practice the arcane arts?" Soliania asked.

Having brazenly used his inventory as he did ichigo was more than prepared for the question. "Well, not really. This… pocket dimension is an inherent ability of mine and my companion. Super useful."

"Truly? That is wonderful. Now, the issue we now face is the utter lack of ability that any of these women have when it comes to cooking. They have spent their entire lives down there and another issue is that most of them have bad eyesight. But that's another matter altogether. The question is: Can you cook big boy?"

"Wh-why'd you call me big boy? You know what? No. Doesn't matter. The answer is, yes, i can cook just fine. Especially since right now we only have meat."

"Perfect. So, uhh, get to it."

Rolling his eyes at the 700 plus year-old woman's nonchalant instruction Ichigo went to do as he was told. The kitchen was grand, as one would expect when required to supply an entire fortress full of hungry people. The stove tops ran off of firewood and as luck wood have it there were several dried out chords neatly stacked just to the left of the ten foot long stovetop. Going for broke Ichigo decided to light up the entire stove in an effort to speed up his cooking time. A quick perusal found him an almost luminescent set of knives that he immediately got use out if chopping up his meat.

Ichigo was no master chef by any stretch of the imagination, but he knew enough. There was an ancient tub of butter in a surprisingly cold fridge, thankfully it didn't smell bad which meant he could use it, probably. It took a couple to minutes to coat the stove top with the butter after which he began to place his thinly cut slices of venison. He wasn't sure how much the woman would eat, but he did remember learning that eating a lot after starving is a bad thing, so he decided to make sixty of the thinly cut strips which didn't even use up the entirety of the twenty pound slab he had used.

Five minutes and a few flips later Ichigo deemed the meat fully cooked and began piling the strips onto a large plate he found. He also balanced a tall stack of forty-two plates on his other hand and with with a sense of urgency, he didn't want the ogres' first meal to be cold, Ichigo exited the kitchen. The moment he entered the servant's quarters all eyes turned to him once again, but this time he was followed by the few children that had been playing in the halls. Everyone smelled the glorious scent of well cooked venison and Ichigo could plainly see some of the females in the room salivating.

"Alright," he said placing the stack of plates and meat onto a table, "Eat!" Except, that last part was said in the ogre language.

In the short time he waited for the meat to cook Ichigo had decided that he didn't want to rely on Soliania to translate since she was already so frail and weak. He had the skill book and while he could not share with Tatsuki like he wished he was confident she would understand his reasoning.

 **[Passive Utility] Ogre Language Lvl. 1**

 **The language of the ogres is an extremely difficult one for a regular human to understand because it relies heavily on the inflection of various grunts and whines. To the untrained ear ogres speaking sounds more like a wolf gargling gravel while trying to howl than an actual language with complex structures.**

 **You now understand and can speak 1% of the ogre tongue**

The level was extremely low so he could barely say even the simplest of words and he highly doubted he would understand a lick of what any of the ogre women could say. Still his single word seemed to do the opposite of what he had hoped, instead everyone present stood still and stared at him in confusion.

Confused at their reaction and not wanting the food to get cold Ichigo repeated himself, "Eat!" no reaction. "Eat? Eat. Feet? Feet. Feet!"

This didn't elicit the response he wished, instead everyone except for Tatsuki, who was confused as to how Ichigo could suddenly speak ogre, began laughing uproariously. Clearly he must have been saying the wrong word. It took a few minutes for the group to relax before one of the women, and older one from what Ichigo could tell, walked up to him and grabbed one of the venison strips. After roughly shoving it in her mouth and chewing noisily before swallowing she smiled in contentment.

"Good-" The woman continued to speak in ogre, but Ichigo couldn't understand a single thing. So he simply smiled and bowed in response. That seemed to set off the other female ogres as they quickly lined up and began taking a single strip each. Ichigo was surprised they knew to do that already, but simply assumed Soliania had instructed them on their health while he was gone. Once everyone had eaten a strip Ichigo brought the large plate over to Soliania and Tatsuki who were seated on the same bed he had left them.

"No forks?" Tatsuki asked, hesitant to eat meat barehanded.

Ichigo chuckled and withdrew a fork and knife he had brought for her. "Of course not, I brought one for myself as well. I assumed one of us would have to feed you Soli."

Said elf queen simply smiled in appreciation, "Thank you, that would be greatly appreciated."

Ichigo set the large plate filled with only twenty strips now onto the small nightstand by the bed and sat down on Soliania's other side. He did not expect the, now clothed, super granny to drape herself across his lap and open her mouth like a baby. At that point there was no point in asking why or arguing, so Ichigo simply reached over, cut at strip into smaller pieces and began feeding it to the queen.

Tatsuki on the other hand was shocked by Ichigo's compliance with the queen's childish, and suggestive, antics. But she chose not to say anything, instead she waited for the queen to finish her strip. Once done instead of allowing Soliania to simply luxuriate on Ichigo's lap Tatsuki stood up and not so gently moved Soliania fully onto the bed. She then proceeded to lay across his lap herself and mimic the queen's earlier action of opening her mouth in expectation of food.

This, Ichigo was not prepared for. It had been different with the queen. Sure Soli was pretty and all, but she was imaginary and a billion years old. Tatsuki on the other hand had just recently been revealed to be a very sexy woman and Ichigo had spent most of the day trying not to ogle her butt in her tights. As one would expect a certain part of his anatomy began swelling with this new position. When he achieved full hardness, and not that normal hardness, that weird super hardness that sometimes happens, he was mortified by the possibility of Tatsuki discovering his lewd thoughts about her. He was absolutely sure that at this point his dick was firmly pressed into the small of her back, except she didn't say a word.

Praying to Kami for his good luck Ichigo began feeding Tatsuki. What Ichigo didn't know was that his fifteen year old female friend could most definitely feel his throbbing erection against her back. She simply chose to let it be because in her mind it proved that Ichigo was much more interested in her than the old hag that had been hitting on him all day. And while that may have been the truth, it didn't stop Tatsuki's thoughts to go to similarly lewd places.

'Is- is it usually this big? Would it even fit inside me? What's it feel like? I wonder what he's thinking.'

'Can she really not feel this thing? Or is she letting it touch her. Does she want to touch it?'

As pubescent teenagers are known to do their questions quickly became fantasies. If they had bothered to look each other in the face they would have found equally atomic blushes. Luckily Soliania had no eyes and thus could not make fun of them for their "predicament."

It was a grueling twenty minutes of Ichigo feeding Tatsuki before she finally said she was full. Acting as though nothing had happened she simply at up off of Ichigo's lap and erection and sat back down on the bed, not meeting his eyes. Ichigo on the other hand could not stop staring at his childhood friend, it took his stomach grumbling for him to remember to eat the ten strips that remained. Once done Ichigo tried to talk in an effort to put the sexually charged time behind him.

Soliania beat him to it, "How did you learn Ogre?" her voice was full of curiosity.

"Oh, well, you know. I've always been good with languages and after all this time hearing you and the girls talk I began to figure some stuff out. It's nothing special. Right now I can still barely understand a thing." was the lie Ichigo went with. Tatsuki's stare made it obvious she knew he was lying, but it'd be a simple thing to explain it to her later.

"Fascinating, perhaps I can teach you the Elven tongue, Eldarin?"

"That sounds great. But let's get down to business, what are all of these girls planning to do? How will they take care of themselves? Interjected Tatsuki.

"You know that's a marvelous question. Let me ask." Soliania once again began speaking Ogre to the group.

Ichigo got a few words like, you, him, life, the, but not many beyond that. What was interesting about hearing them talk, because it quickly became a whole group discussion, was that Ichigo could practically feel himself gain greater understanding of the language. A few words became a few phrases and by the time they finished their discussion Ichigo was sure he could put together an entire sentence is he needed to. Sure he'd sound like a tourists reading out of a translation dictionary, but still.

"Alright, so this is how it goes. These girls don't have anywhere to go and with their extreme frailty due to their treatment at the hands of Krulp they can't really take care of themselves. None of them have any sort of practical skills outside of some sexual experience and I doubt that's going to get them far with you."

Ichigo cringed at the thought. From his perspective the ogre females were about as attractive as a mutilated goat corpse. Even naked they looked mostly male and their skin was thick and weird. And don't even get him started on their faces, point being, Soliania was right.

"So we're working from the ground up. They need practical training in almost every aspect of life, but the most pressing issues would be food and cooking said food. This fortress is a bit out of the way and since Krulp has ruled it for so long I doubt anyone will come here anytime soon so we can't expect outside help. The biggest thing though is all of these women see themselves as your property Ichigo. Sorry Tatsuki, but alpha males and all that. Above all they will do as you say."

"Jeez, really? Well first of all I want them to take care of themselves. After the lives they lived… they deserve a good one. As for teaching them how to take care of themselves… To be honest I don't really know how to hunt and my cooking skills are extremely rudimentary. You said you were queen, couldn't you get some of your people to help these guys out?"

Soliania chuckled at that statement, "Surely I could, but my kingdom is a week's travel into the forest. There's no way we can make the trip and leave these women alone. They'd starve."

"Alright, alright. Tatsuki can you come with me? To the hall?" Ichigo asked.

"Uhm… sure."

In the hall Ichigo revealed a plan he hoped would work. "You know our inventories right?"

"Obviously."

"Well, when I was hunting earlier the meat I got was just bloody slabs I immediately tossed into my inventory. The thing is that they didn't change at all while in their. Exact same temperature and all. So I'm thinking we put the ogres into our inventory, travel to the Soliania's kingdom, get help, and hopefully hire some sort of staff to take care of the girls."

"Hire people Ichigo? Really? I mean, I'm sure the inventory thing will work, but do we have the money to pay for a full time babysitting service?"

"Ho ho ho, you're forgetting about my **treasure hunter** perk. We have several million yen, pushing a billion, and guess what? I noticed new currency signs pop up when we got here. I bet the game will let us convert our cash."

 **For a five percent fee**

"Uhh, thanks? See this could work!"

"I guess, I'm the one who wanted to help them so badly in the first place. I don't want them to die because we couldn't take care of them. Let's do it."

"Awesome."

They duo walked back in and told Soliania of their plan, she was skeptical at first, but came around when Ichigo suddenly through Tatsuki into his inventory and withdrew her a few minutes later still scream the same obscenity. That move earned him a few gut punches, but also the trust of all the ogre women.

"Ok," Ichigo had stretched his inventory window to be seven feet tall which was needed to accommodate the tallest ogre, "step right up, next thing you know, we'll be there." Soliania translated that for him.

They couldn't see the thing their new master wanted them to enter but they walked forward nonetheless. When each of the forty females were accounted for Ichigo closed his menu and turned to face the only to people left with him.

"I think we're all set. You sure you don't want to be in my inventory Soli?"

"Of course not Ichigo, who would lead you to my people if I weren't there? Besides, I'm sure travelling while cradled in your arms is much more pleasant."

"Err, fine. One last thing before we go. Tatsuki. Let's check our stats. We have to have leveled after all this and I dismissed a whole bunch of screens. There's got to be a lot to check out. You can go back to sleep Soli, this might take a while."

Shrugging in confusion, but not protesting more sleep Soliania laid back down and quickly slipped into dreamland.

Like children with a new toy Ichigo and Tatsuki jumped into their own bed and eagerly opened up their stats. It took a lot for Tatsuki to restrain herself from screaming out when she saw all she had gained.

 **Title: Karate Queen**

 **Name: Tatsuki Arisawa**

 **Race: Human~**

 **Level: 59**

 **HP: 1,560/1,560**

 **RK: 1,620/1,620**

 **Stats: 240**

 **Str: 190 +**

 **Vit: 78 +**

 **Dex: 25 +**

 **Int: 3 +**

 **Wis: 3 +**

 **Luck: 5 +**

 **Charm: 1 +**

 **XP: 652,617/2,047,400**

"Oh sweet Kami." She whispered in awe. Sure she had expected to gain something out of their almost day long adventure, but to gain forty-eight levels in a single swoop? Insane. She quickly glanced over at Ichigo to find him more or less unresponsive to the entire ordeal.

'Probably because he's used to gaining a whole bunch of levels. Nerd. So what to do. I should probably get vitality and dexterity to 100 since those help me punch stuff and live.'

 **Title: Karate Queen**

 **Name: Tatsuki Arisawa**

 **Race: Human~**

 **Level: 59**

 **HP: 1,560/1,560**

 **RK: 1,620/1,620**

 **Stats: 143**

 **Str: 190 +**

 **Vit: - 100 +**

 **Dex: - 100 +**

 **Int: 3 +**

 **Wis: 3 +**

 **Luck: 5 +**

 **Charm: 1 +**

 **XP: 652,617/2,047,400**

'Alright… I am not dumb! What the hell?' she mentally screamed.

 **Title: Karate Queen**

 **Name: Tatsuki Arisawa**

 **Race: Human~**

 **Level: 59**

 **HP: 1,560/1,560**

 **RK: 1,620/1,620**

 **Stats: 49**

 **Str: 190 +**

 **Vit: - 100 +**

 **Dex: - 100 +**

 **Int: - 50 +**

 **Wis: - 50 +**

 **Luck: 5 +**

 **Charm: 1 +**

 **XP: 652,617/2,047,400**

'Better… or, about to be better. And with the last bit…' A selfish and jealous part of Tatsuki's mind that had already decided claim Ichigo's as hers no matter how much she denied it made the last decision.

 **Title: Karate Queen**

 **Name: Tatsuki Arisawa**

 **Race: Human~**

 **Level: 59**

 **HP: 2,000/2,000**

 **RK: 3,000/3,000**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 190**

 **Vit: 100**

 **Dex: 100**

 **Int: 50**

 **Wis: 50**

 **Luck: 5**

 **Charm: 50**

 **XP: 652,617/2,047,400**

'I don't feel any prettier…' She thought, but to the outside observer once Tatsuki accepted the changes she made to her stats something about her changed. It wasn't purely physical, sure her muscles became more toned and her skin began to glow, something about just drew them in more.

 **Congratulations!**

 **For bringing your Vitality stat to 100 or more you have been given the opportunity to choose between a number of Vitality related perks!**

 **Can't Keep Me Down!**

 **You've got people to see and places to go, you ain't got time to be regenerating health!**

 **Doubles health regen as well as health received from healing over time spells**

 **Beefy Girl**

 **You never know when you will walk into a nuclear warhead and blow it up, so you have to be prepared.**

 **Doubles health points gained from vitality points**

 **Endure**

 **You've heard of pokemon before right? Well that.**

 **Grants access to ability [Endure]**

 **[Active Combat] Endure Lvl. 1**

 **Something bad is coming your way and there' no way you're going to survive it. Rather than accept your fate, endure it and fight some more!**

 **Cost: 5,000 RK**

 **Effect: Allows Player to survive a fatal blow**

 **Regen Chance: 1% Chance to regenerate 10% of lost health**

 **Congratulations!**

 **For bringing your Dexterity stat to 100 or more you have been given the opportunity to choose between a number of Dexterity related perks!**

 **Fleet Foot**

 **You've got a need for speed and the capability to outrun the fastest of muscle cars.**

 **Your speed is now double what your dexterity stat suggests.**

 **Legs of Steel**

 **While they might not literally be made out of steel they certainly will feel like it!**

 **Triples damage done with legs**

 **Lightning Punch**

 **Harnessing the mighty power of the god Zeus you will smite your enemies!**

 **Learn Active Combat Ability [Lightning Punch]**

 **[Active Combat] Lightning Punch Lvl. 1**

 **Faster than the eye can see you will strike with a lightning enhanced punch. Be warned! This ability may cause tunnel vision.**

 **Cost: 1000 RK**

 **Charge Time: 5 seconds**

 **Damage: 500 Lightning + Dex Piercing**

'Ooh, that's a lot of cool stuff. I can't use **Endure** so that's out. **Beefy Girl** and **Can't Keep Me Down** do basically the same thing, except that we don't really have healing except for the scrolls we got. Besides, what's the point of having high regeneration if I can't survive a blow? **Beefy Girl** it is. As for dexterity… **Fleet Foot** and **Legs of Steel** are dumb especially since most of my combat styles use more punches than kicks. **Lightning Punch** it is. Besides, I don't really have a combat ability besides **Limit Break** , now I do.'

Done with her stuff Tatsuki looked over at Ichigo, only to find him dozing off on his bed. 'Hmph. Guess, not as much cool stuff happened to him then.'

~With Ichigo a Few Minutes Ago~

'Alright, what are we dealing with?'

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 66**

 **HP: 7,280/7,280**

 **RK: 41,600/41,600**

 **Stats: 60**

 **Str: 407 +**

 **Vit: 182 +**

 **Dex: 155 +**

 **Int: 100 +**

 **Wis: 26 +**

 **Luck: 105 +**

 **Charm: 5 +**

 **XP: 2,539,037/5,160,420**

'Oh yeah, the fucking strength cost. Dammit.' He felt his ire rise as he remembered the situation, but he calmed down. 'No use crying over spilled milk. After all we found Soli and now we can help all these girls… it's good. Anyway, I've got sixty points, no use putting any into my physical stats as long as I can go to that gym, but I really don't want to have even more RK, but I also don't care about charisma… I'll just hold off again, maybe I'll bring wisdom up to 100 next time.'

Dismissing his screen Ichigo looked over at Tatsuki only to find her still looking at hers. 'I bet she got a whole bunch of levels. It'll take some time to go through all that. I'll just take a quick little… short… rest… for ju-' Unable to finish his own thought Ichigo fell asleep. Sure his exhausted status and his health had been healed by Soliania, but the mental exhaustion of his adventure was not something that left so easily.

Ichigo laying out on the small servant bed how how Tatsuki found him. She had initially wanted to mess with him, but seeing his peaceful, innocent, slumbering face filled her mind with all kinds of naughty thoughts. Feeling confident, in no small part due to her newly raised charisma, Tatsuki decided to gingerly slip into bed with Ichigo. Once she was positioned under his right arm she curled up against him, not unlike a kitten, and fell asleep.

~GB~

Turns out Ichigo moves around a bit in his sleep, as such Tatsuki awoke to him holding her tightly to his chest as one would a teddy bear. She was torn, on one hand she was surprisingly comfortable as the little spoon, on the the other when she pulled up the menu she found that it was 8:00 a.m.! A quick scan of what she was able to see in her position revealed the normal a blue screen.

 **For sleeping with someone in a bed your HP and RK have been fully restored.**

 **You've gained a 5% boost to experience for the day.**

'Oh… Well that's… something.' Deciding to bite the bullet and accept the awkwardness that was to come Tatsuki wriggled around to face Ichigo. 'I like this idiot don't I?' Feeling daring Tatsuki craned her neck and pecked the redhead on the lips. When he didn't move she sighed a small breath of relief and decided to truly awaken him.

"Ichigo~." She said softly.

He didn't even twitch.

"Ichigo~~." A bit louder.

Nothing.

"Ichigo!"

A slight twitch.

"Seriously? Wake the fuck up!" She yelled, but not too loudly as to not disturb the elf.

A surprised snort escaped Ichigo's nose as he finally woke up. At first he was extremely confused to see Tatsuki's face at such an odd angle, confusion quickly became embarrassment as he realized she was in bed with him.

"Uhh… wha- what are you doing in my bed?"

She chose to play it cool, "You were warm, sue me. Anyway, we slept all night, it's 8:00 a.m. Whip us up some food while I wake up Soliania." Tatsuki then wriggled out of Ichigo's grip and went over to said elf.

Still blinking the sleep out of his eyes Ichigo chose to comply rather than to try and figure out what exactly had happened. "Ok."

Breakfast was quick and simple with Ichigo making exactly what had for, what ended up being, dinner the day before. Soliania revealed that the cuff they had freed her from also hindered her magic. A good night's rest was all it took for her to return to what she considered half of her full strength, elven hardiness and all that.

"Goodness me, you did this Ichigo?" yelled a surprised Soliania as the group of three exited the fortress through the front.

The boy in question chuckled, "Yeah, we wanted to be sure that there'd be no problems getting in here. I'm surprised you didn't feel it in your cell."

"Well, I haven't been quite "present" for the past several decades. When you freed me is the most lucid I've been in a long time." she said, though her relatively light tone did not convey the amount of "fucked up" that was.

"Oh…" Ichigo trailed off, not knowing how to follow up such a statement.

The trio walked in silence until they had circumnavigated the large fortress and came to the edge of the forest.

Tatsuki spoke up this time saying, "So, Soliania. I think it'd be best if you allowed me and Ichigo to travel alone. You see, we're extremely fast and we'd like to complete this little mission as quickly as possible. So if you can point us in the right direction…" she trailed off hoping her implication was clear.

Both Ichigo and the elven queen quirked an eyebrow at the diminutive girl's statement, but it was the tallest among them that actually spoke. I understand the need for haste, I was operating under the assumption that there was no time limit due to the fact that the women were in some sort of limbo at the moment. Not to mention my presence will be vital when we near our destination. You see, we elves aren't much for outsiders. After all, there's a reason my kingdom is secluded in the middle of a dense forest."

"Oh…"

"Why so downtrodden? Did you want some time alone with tall, red, and handsome? I did notice how prettied up you were this morning."

Now both teens were blushing furiously. Ichigo because, despite his growing attraction towards his childhood friend, he had trouble believing that she would be equally interested in him.

Tatsuki was blushing because she had not anticipated what raising her charisma to fifty would do. One of the first things she noticed when she entered the communal servant's bathroom was that her bra was tighter than it usually was. Tatsuki was normally on the low side of a C-cup, a solid handful, but not huge. That in conjunction with her lack of interest in showing off led most to believe she wasn't packing any heat. It didn't matter to her because the size of her boobs never truly hindered her martial arts, and never hurt her back much. She was used to a 30-C, but she might have become a 32 or even 34-C overnight. 'I've been spending too much time around Orihime…'

Tatsuki had no issues with her figure, hell, she was proud of it. Her lean form, and tight muscles were earned through years of hard work, proving themselves when she came second in her division for nationals. But Orihime's tits were ridiculous! The girl had freaking F cups! And Tatsuki should know for she had been on the receiving end of the busty girl's complaints numerous times. Thus Tatsuki had to assume her increase in size had to be in part due to an almost subconscious jealousy of Orihime's honkers. Not that she was actually jealous, the back pain had to be agonizing which is why she never complained when Orihime vented at her. The other part, which she couldn't deny anymore, had to be her attraction to Ichigo. 'Boys like big tits right?' Hence, growth.

That was the scariest part. Oh, she noticed the other changes for sure. Her butt was ever so slightly fuller, but she had a great butt already. Her skin seemed clearer and felt silky smooth and she swore her lips were just a bit fuller. Overall she didn't look _that_ different. Most of her friends probably wouldn't notice anything at all, only someone who scrutinized her body closely would. The mere thought of someone ogling her made her skin crawl.

Ichigo was ogling Tatsuki. He hadn't noticed at first, but when Soliania pointed out Tatsuki's "enhanced" beauty he immediately realized things were different. The day before he had been given an intimate view of of his childhood friend. Apparently barbarians were also perverts. If he squinted he could see the differences, her chest stuck out just a little more under her hoodie, her tights seemed just a little smaller, her lips just a little bit more kissable, he could probably say more, but he was beginning to feel creepy.

Tatsuki was finally able to stutter out a denial after a few minutes of awkward silence. "N-no. I just wanna get home. We hadn't planned on being here so long, this was supposed to be an afternoon at most… right Ichigo?"

Her question snapped the boy out of his leering, "Y-yeah, Tatsuki. But to be honest, we don't have anything else to do. I mean, if you want to go, we can go. My money says the same thing that happened in our… land will happen here. Not to mention the ogres will be safe no matter what… hopefully."

'That's cute, he's thinking about my needs.' The thought made Tatsuki feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy, but what Ichigo said was true. When she had checked the time in the morning only a minute had passed in the real world. Assuming a full twenty-four hours in this world was equal to only a minute in the real world, they could be there for two entire months and only an hour would have passed, if that.

"Ehh… no no no. I'm sorry for even saying that Soliania. We've had a full night of rest and Ichigo's right, we lose nothing by being here. Forgive me. At least…" what she was about to say irked her, "at least have Ichigo carry you as we travel. That way you can continue resting, lead us, and we can travel quickly. Sound like a plan?"

Soliania squinted at the human youngling. Sure, she had enjoyed teasing the youth named Ichigo, but it was almost immediately obvious to her eyeless holes that the two humans shared a special bond. Perhaps neither fully acknowledged it, the follies of youth and all, but they seemed more interested in each other than "just friends."

The elf queen smirked, "Sounds marvelous Tatsuki." She then turned to Ichigo and practically leapt into the surprised boy's arms. Despite her interest in him not being genuinely romantic or sexual in nature she was interested in him. His mere presence made her almost purr in delight, his life force was absurdly huge; it practically, throbbed. Ichigo was curiosity that Soliania was very interested in understanding. "Alright let's go horse. That way." She said as she pointed directly into the forest.

Ichigo had been caught off guard by the 750 old woman's… exuberance, but he had recollected himself quickly. "Uhh, first of all you're just pointing into the forest can you be more specific and… you're blind. How do you know any of this?"

"Ohohoho!" Chuckled Soliania. "I'm several centuries old child. I have magic to help me and being a forest dwelling people I'm quite attuned with nature, especially this forest. I have senses similar to a bat, only magical in nature. In a range of about 10 meters I can more or less "see." I can extend the range if I wish, but then it becomes difficult to concentrate. So do not worry, but to be more specific we will be traveling in the exact direction of my finger for a long time. Even if you travel quickly it will be easy for me to know when to stop, so run to your heart's content. Now, let's go."

~GB~

Soliania thought the humans had been exaggerating when they said they could travel quickly. No mount she knew could travel as quickly as the teens did, the amazing part was that her horse was clearly holding back for the sake of Tatsuki. Eventually the girl needed rest which only to further shock the ex-prisoner when Ichigo looked completely fine and ready to she probed for information he clammed up for the first time since they had met. Each question she had asked was either laughed off or redirected. Eventually Tatsuki had rested enough for them to set off, though Soliania suspected that she had purposefully cut their rest short to stop her questions.

Her initial assumption about the two was that they were wizard apprentices. After all they had slain Krulp and unless they were angels in disguise, which she doubted after being in direct contact with them, not many people could defeat him in close quarters combat. Legendary heroes, even more ancient elves than she, demigods, and other celestial beings surely could have, with ease even, but these kids were young.

Tatsuki was 100% human, though within her she sensed a taint of something completely otherworldly and vile, but it was small enough that Soliania doubted she had felt it at all. Ichigo on the other hand… he was barely human. At his core he was human, but even that was tainted similarly to Tatsuki only much, much worse. She was genuinely worried that whatever was within him would overtake him one day, but nothing on the surface indicated as such. Besides that his entire being was wrapped in an otherworldly aura similar to, but not quite like, an angel's. While an angel felt alive Ichigo almost felt dead, which is why the fact that he practically overflowed with life force was so odd. The kicker was that even the human part in his core didn't seem quite right. Sure it was at odds with a vileness she could not describe, but it had an edge that set him apart from his companion.

Ultimately Soliania was confused. For the most part Tatsuki was a normal human with some wizard training, potentially. Ichigo was… scary. Not in the normal sense, but in the fact that he was so powerful, so full of life, but felt so… wrong. Something wasn't adding up and the elf queen hoped to figure out what it was one day soon.

~GB~

 **AN: Damn. Just damn. I kind of love this fantasy thing I've got going on, but I also want to progress the main story. I have such cool ideas I want to implement after I finish this, but at the same time I don't want to rush this.**

 **Sorry if any of you guys are sick and tired of this, but it might be another one or even two chapters before Ichigo and Tatsuki are back in the real world. The "worst" part being that it will probably be pure story because I don't want to give them another big power-up while they're in the same place.**

 **I might just put a poll up on my page… nah. I'll figure it out.**

 **Please leave an intense review.**

 **Thx ;)**


	12. Greetings from Dorralei

**AN: As per the usual there's really not much to say here.**

 **I just hope you like this elf kingdom I guess.**

~GB~

Chapter 11 Summary: Ichigo went hunting so that the group of slaves, and he and Tatsuki, could eat. Then the teenagers chucked all the ogres into their inventories. After a good night's rest, and some level-ups for Tatsuki, the players accompanied by elf queen Soliania set off for the elven kingdom deep in the Felmere woods.

~GB~

Chapter 12: Greetings from Dorralei

At the speed they were traveling, and the fact the only had to rest three times, it only took the group four hours to reach their destination. Or rather, the spot where Soliania suddenly screamed for them to stop.

Ichigo looked around and couldn't see anything special with where they had stopped. "Uhh, are we here? 'Cuz this just looks like anywhere else in this forest. We aren't even in a clearing."

"That's where you're wrong child." answered Soliania. "If you look directly in each of the cardinal directions you'll see a tree. Your eyes cannot perceive them, but there are several runes etched upon each of them. Directly where we are standing there is another, much larger, group of runes. It will only take me a moment to complete the incantation that should transport us to my kingdom."

Hearing that Tatsuki couldn't help but ask, "Transport? I thought you said your kingdom was in the forest?"

"You're right it is in the forest, but it also isn't. Over a millennia ago a several powerful elven warlocks created a separate dimension for us elves to reside in. Conflict was much greater back then and we elves were the target of several evil races who wished for our extinction. To be specific, our group's extinction. There are several elven kingdoms across the land that never faced persecution. I hope that makes sense young one."

"I guess. Sorry about your people."

Soliania waved her hand, "That was before I was born. Sure there are many alive who remember that time, but I only learned of it in history books." She paused. "I ask for some silence while I complete the incantation."

Ichigo and Tatsuki complied with her request, though they would have anyway once they heard her speak. What they could only assume was the elven tongue, was one of the most beautiful thing either teen had ever heard. It flowed out of Soliania's lips like a river of sound, drowning those that heard it in its dulcet tones. Ichigo found himself wishing he had brought some sort of recording device so that he could capture what he was hearing forever. Tatsuki wanted only to learn how to speak such a beautiful language. After all, if Ichigo could learn Ogre then she could probably learn Elven.

The incantation only took a minute to complete, but it felt like an eternity of bliss to the onlookers. But everyone was quickly shocked out of their states when the ground below them began to glow a bright green.

"Don't worry. That just means everything is working as intended. If you look around, the trees I pointed out earlier are also glowing. Now you can see the runes they are etched with. Oh, and, you might want to center yourselves children. My late husband had some trouble traveling in this manner the first time."

Alarmed Tatsuki asked, "Wait! Wha-" But she was cut off when the green light suddenly flashed, blinding her, and she began to feel weightless. An instant later Tatsuki felt herself impact the floor with a painful amount of force. Only this time she was completely prone and could feel cool marble under her cheeks.

"Ugh." was all Tatsuki could get out as she tried to regain her balance. As she got to a sitting position the nausea hit her like a truck. Thankfully she could tell she wasn't going to be throwing up anytime soon, then she heard the laughter.

Ichigo couldn't help himself. When Soli had told them to center themselves he took it to heart, after all he didn't want to drop a blind old lady upon arrival. The trip was still disorienting, but he landed on his own two feet just fine. When he turned to see Tatsuki on the ground he knew immediately she hadn't been as cautious as she should have been.

"Ah, Ta-chan. Do you need help?" He asked, his voice sounding a bit petulant.

She could only respond by groaning causing him to laugh harder and for Soliania to join in.

When he calmed down and Tatsuki finally got to her feet, he finally took in their location. The trio seemed to have arrived in a gazebo made entirely of pure white marble. A lot of greenery could be seen encroaching on the structure, but it only added to its beauty. The only exit was directly in front of them and was a short series of steps, also marble, that opened up to what looked to be a busy metropolitan area.

Doing a little spin to see out of the gazebo Ichigo realized that they were in the middle of a large crossroads. If it weren't for the lack of cars and the overwhelming amount of marble used in all of the buildings he could see, he would have sworn he was in downtown Tokyo. Even the elves who walked around, though they were taller than the average human and had pointy ears, could have easily been mistaken for normal humans just going about a day of shopping. The clothes they were wearing weren't even that out of style. They looked like a fantastical spin on normal seventies clothes with white, once again, being the dominating color.

"Soliania, where are we-" but Ichigo's question was cut off by a rather gruff voice speaking in the same language Soliania had just moments ago.

He was about to ask that the man speak in a language he understood, but Soliania spoke up.

" _Excuse me officer. My name is Soliania Dorralei. I was-"_

" _Cut the act madam. Our queen was killed almost two centuries ago. I'll ask again that you reveal to me some identification or I'll be forced to take you and your… companions into custody."_

" _Well I must apologize then, I have no such thing upon my person. But I do swear to you that my name is Soliania Dorralei. I assume my younger sister Amkrissa has ascended to the throne? If you bring me to her surely-"_

" _Bring an unknown person before our queen? Are you mad? Not to mention you've given let in two humans which is illegal according to code 1143 section C. If you can show no identification I will be bring you and those with you to the police station. Do not resist."_ With that said the male, elven officer began walking towards them.

" _Please! At least let me explain the situation to my companions. I would hate to see you get hurt."_ While Officer Aolis highly doubted a delusional blind woman and two young humans could pose any threat to a seasoned law enforcer such as himself, something in the woman's voice made him pause.

" _Fine, but be quick about. And know any resistance will be met with extreme force."_

Soliania would have rolled her eyes if she had any and turned her head to face Ichigo. "Apparently some sort of identification is required, which I obviously don't have. So this gentleman will be bringing us to the local police department. Now-"

"Wait, wait, wait.' Said Tatsuki. "Didn't you tell them you were the queen?"

"Obviously, but he did not believe me. As I was saying, I don't think we should put up any sort of resistance since I'm sure I'll be able to make my position clear eventually. So-"

"But wait." This time it was Ichigo who interrupted her. "Can't we just beat them up until we get what we want? After all-" Ichigo did a quick observe on the officer.

 **Title: Entrance Guard**

 **Name: Aolis Paric**

 **Race: Elf (Felmere Forest)**

 **Level: 65**

 **HP: 600/600**

 **MP: 1,400/1,400**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 35**

 **Vit: 30**

 **Dex: 80**

 **Int: 70**

 **Wis: 70**

 **Luck: 10**

 **Charm: 50**

 **XP: 1,896,215/4,914,600**

 **Summary: Lowest of the low Aolis has been on guard duty at the for the past thirty years. He pissed off the wrong lieutenant when he dumped a girlfriend while still in the academy. He's still young so he has some hope, but Aolis is stuck on the bottom rung for a while.**

"Oh… huh. If this city if full of guys like these we might have a problem. Not to mention we want their help, I'm dumb. Tell him we'll follow without issue."

" _Thank you for your patience sir. My companions and I will follow without issue."_

" _Good."_

Aolis gestured the group forth and directed them from behind by telling Soliania where to go. The walk to the police station was extremely uncomfortable for the two teens. The entire time they were actively avoided by the populous and were given dirty looks by literally everyone they saw. Even the children tried to be intimidating while hiding behind their mother's skirts.

"Uhh, do you know anything about this Soli?"

"About what child?" she asked confusing the fifteen year old.

'Right, no eyes.' "Well, all these people are giving us real nasty glares and avoiding us like the plague as if we were some sort of great evil."

"Huh, I did notice them avoiding us, but you say that they're being quite nasty? Unfortunately, I can't tell you why. When he was alive my husband visited here many times and we never had such issues. There was also active trade between the fortress and my kingdom. Before Krulp attacked there were around ten or twelve interspecies marriages that seemed to be functioning just fine. So… I have no idea." Answered Soliania, but she continued to ponder the question.

"Oh, ok."

Aolis the not so gently jabbed Ichigo with a baton in an effort to get the boy to shut up. Thus the rest of the trip was done in silence, the nasty glares they received still unnerved the humans, but they just tried to ignore them. Eventually they arrived at the police station.

The large building was painted blue and had the words "police department" written above the entrance in gold. The entrance itself was simply an opening, no doors to be seen. Once inside Aolis led them down a small hallway and into a room that had only a single wooden table and four seats.

'An interrogation room.' The teens simultaneously thought.

Aolis gesture them to take there seats, marking the first time Ichigo had put Soliania down in almost five hours, and left the room, locking it behind him with a loud click. The group sat in a silence for a minute, not knowing what to do or say, before Ichigo spoke up.

"So… if this goes badly…"

"It won't." assured the elf queen, "I'm sure whoever the chief is will recognize me since they're usually at least 500 years old. If they don't I'll simply demand to see my sister who is apparently queen as I had assumed. If they refuse and threaten to lock us up… As long as they don't suppress my magic I'll be able to knock out this entire building without much effort. Then I will attempt to lead you two to the castle. My little sister will be unable to deny who I am. But that's the worst case situation."

"Fine, I just don't want to have to fight out way out of here."

"Yeah." Agreed Tatsuki. Even with her new level and boosted stats she doubted that she could easily defeat even Aolis, and he was described as the lowest of the low!

Just as Tatsuki said that the door opened and a rather stately figure walked in. he was decked out in a deep blue uniform similar to the one worn by Aolis, but his was adorned with various medals and one stood out in particular. It was a large golden crown and looked to be studded with real diamonds. 'I think we found the chief. **Observe**."

 **Title: 10th District of Dorralei, Chief of Police**

 **Name: Ettrian Carkus**

 **Race: Elf (Felmere Forest)**

 **Level: 150**

 **HP: 2,400/2,400**

 **MP: 2,400/2,400**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 110**

 **Vit: 120**

 **Dex: 180**

 **Int: 120**

 **Wis: 120**

 **Luck: 20**

 **Charm: (60+40) = 100**

 **XP: 209,839,726,220/644,245,093,800**

 **Summary: Ettrian Carkus is a man of some renown. After all, being the chief of police of the only district that holds an entrance to the Kingdom of Dorralei is an absurdly important job. A mixture of cunning, wit, battle prowess, and leadership skills has earned him the position which he has held for the last century. Many say his skills are second only to the royal family and the head of the Dorralei military.**

'Oh. Shit. I hope he recognizes Soliania.' Thought Ichigo. If he had glanced at Tatsuki he would have noticed her face become quite pale as she read the same information as he did.

Soliania spoke before the chief could. "Well look who it is. It's good to uhm… sense you, I guess. How've you been Ettrian?"

Hearing her casual greeting clearly threw off the chief causing him to stare long and hard at Soliania. "Hmm, you seem awfully familiar with me, but I do not recognize you. The officer that brought you in says you claim to be Soliania Dorralei who has been missing and presumed dead for almost two centuries. How can you prove-"

Everyone was shocked when Soliania interrupted him, "Oh don't play coy with me Ettrian. Or do I have to bring up that time when you were just an average beat cop and you attempted to arrest me? You had pushed me up against the wall so _roughly_. Why I remember being terrified that you were going to-"

"Hey! No need for that. None at all. I have to believe you because you and me were the only ones who knew that." Once he recovered from his nervous embarrassment Ettrian said, "My queen, I am so, so sorry that we never searched for you. When you didn't return for your semi-yearly visit we sent scouts out to discover what became of you. They returned with stories of your death and the fact that Krulp had taken over Felmere Fortress. We contemplated storming the castle, but Krulp's strength was to be feared. Of course, we would have won, but at a great cost and if you were truly deceased it would have been a pointless endeavor. Forgive us my queen." At that point he was bowing before her.

A wry smile appeared on Soliania's face. "I understand Ettrian, truly I do. Luckily these two stormed the castle yesterday and cleared it of inhabitants freeing me in the process."

Upon hearing that the chief turned toward the teens, "Thank you humans. Truly, this entire kingdom will thank you once what you have done is revealed. To be honest we chiefs had been contemplating another search party since over the last two centuries close to three hundred citizens had gone missing and we assumed Krulp and his army to be the culprits. I'm sure you found the warlord ancient and near death or already dead."

"Uh, well actually Krulp had been researching an answer for eternal youth or something, which is why he kidnapped your citizens, and just as we arrived they had discovered it. He drank a potion and became young before our very eyes. It was a pain in the ass, but we killed him just fine."

The chief's face practically screamed incredulity, "Sure. Two human younglings defeated a feared ogre lord in his prime. And I'm the queen. Nonetheless, you've saved-"

"Hey, jackass. I killed that big motherfucker without issue. Do you need me to prove it? I'm sure you'll be just as easy to beat." Ichigo's pride.

Tatsuki facepalmed. 'Kami above.'

Ichigo's strong words caused Ettrian to go red in the face. "I will not be spoken to in such a manner from a youngling. And a human one at that. You might have saved Queen Soliania, but I doubt your story. Not to mention Krulp wouldn't have been an issue for me anyway. So-"

This time it was the blind elf who interrupted, "Now, now boys. Why don't you settle this like men? I believe there are training grounds behind each police building. I'm sure a friendly spar would clear up this mess. And do make it quick Ichigo, I want to be at the castle before nightfall."

Ichigo smirked while Ettrian looked equal parts, confused, offended, and angry. "My queen! He's but a boy!"

"What? Will you ignore my orders? My sister might be ruling at the moment, but I still have divine providence here. Or are you scared this hunk will beat you?"

Ettrian choked on his words as he tried to answer Soliania. "Fine, fine. Come boy."

"Woah, woah, woah! And leave Soli here? Are there seats out there we can bring her to?" Ichigo was enjoying the chief's annoyance and he knew that addressing Soliania in such a casual manner would annoy him further.

Through gritted teeth Ettrian answered, "Yes, there are. Now some along."

Gathering Soliania in his arms, even though he knew he didn't have to, Ichigo followed the tall elf, though average for his race, followed closely by Tatsuki.

"You're so dumb sometimes you know that?"

"Bah, this guy's chump change Tatsuki. I bet even you could take him if you put your mind to it."

"Uhh, I mean, maybe with **limit break**. But he's an even higher level than Krulp was, there' no way he doesn't have some crazy abilities."

"Huu, I guess you're right. I'll **observe** him again when we fight, then it should tell me his bonuses."

"Bonuses?"

"Oh yeah, my **observe** got to a another level threshold I guess. Now I know an enemies bonuses. That's why I didn't let you fight Krulp, he had 75% damage reduction and was hitting for 1,000 plus damage. Hell, even I could have died, luckily he was slower than me."

"That makes sense, I was wondering why my punches did so little at the end."

"What are you children speaking of?" asked Soliania.

The teens blanched having gotten used to Soliania's presence and forgetting she wasn't involved with the game. Ichigo tried to cover up by saying, "Oh! Well it has something to do with-"

Ettrian, graciously, interrupted him. "We are here. The queen should be comfortable on that bench over there. Enter the field and prepare yourself."

The training area was rather simple. Along the building were benches and in an open space there was a chalked off rectangle of space maybe thirty feet long and ten feet wide. Once he had put Soli down and made sure Tatsuki was taking care of her, Ichigo entered the ring.

"Alright big guy. How you wanna do this. Weapons? No weapons I'm good either way."

"Hmph. This is just a simple spar. No weapons."

 **You are sparring. Death is impossible. If HP reaches 0 the player will be knocked out.**

"Wonderful." ' **Maximum Reinforcement**.'

 **-6,930 RK**

 **-6,930 RK**

 **-6,930 RK**

 **-6,930 RK**

 **-6,930 RK**

 **-6,930 RK**

 **10.5 minutes until completion**

'Shit. Ok, gotta stall.' "Hey, Ettrian right? Why were my friend and I getting such dirty looks while we were coming here? And that Aolis guy said bringing humans here was violation of some code. What gives?"

"Hmph. I suppose you two shall be here for some amount of time since you've saved the queen. I suppose it'd be best if you knew. You see Queen Amkrissa has a certain… distaste for your kind. When she was young a hunting party she had led was caught in the middle of a human war that spilled into our forest. Both sides assumed they were there to help the other, so despite our general superiority in terms of strength and magic the entire party was decimated. She barely escaped with her life. What's worse is that as she was dragging herself away from the battle a squadron of human soldiers came upon her. Like all before they assumed she was part of the opposing army and that she was trying to escape. Queen Amkrissa is a beauty even among our people's standards you can imagine what the vile beasts did to her. Eventually they tired of using her and she was given a chance to escape. She hated humans ever since. When Queen Soliania fell in love and left the kingdom with a human she saw it as a personal betrayal. Thus, when Queen Soliania stopped returning and she was made queen in her stead, one of her first decrees was the banning of humans from our great kingdom."

"Ok, but that doesn't explain why you know that story so well and why people were looking at us like that."

"I was getting to that. Her decree was met with immediate backlash. Many people were quite fond of King Erik and we had enjoyed many years of trade with the humans of Felmere Fortress. So Queen Amkrissa decided to tell her story. It certainly swayed many hearts, but it did not turn everyone to her cause. Thus, she decided to tell the story every single year, almost like a disturbed holiday. She also began suggesting that the disappearance of Queen Soliania was also the fault of humans, that they had abandoned her at Felmere Fortress to meet her doom at the hands of Krulp. The younglings are 100% convinced of her stories and opinions and hate the humans. Even us older folk have been swayed, after all, no one has interacted with a human in two centuries. It's easy to not care for them. So if I say anything it's that I do apologize for the treatment you two are in for. I'm sure once it's common knowledge that you saved the queen you'll be treated better."

"Huh, that… really sucks."

"Yes, it is unfortunate. Now-"

"Wait, wait, wait! I don't know anything about your fighting style. I mean, this is the first time that I'll see an elven style, I'm extremely interested." There were still five minutes until **reinforcement** completed.

Ettrian looked surprisingly excited by the question, "Ohoho? A martial artist are we? Well there's no harm in teaching you a bit about our ways. I have mastered several styles over the course of my life, but they all stem from the same one, _Aelin_. In your tongue it would mean lake or pool. As the name suggests it is a flowing art. There are no rigid stances and each form flows easily into another. Mastery of the from is actually a requirement for joining the police force. But as I said it is the form that several others stem from. It takes a trainee only a year of hard work to master it which should tell you how easy it is. The form I favor is a second generation form called _Aelin-Ur_ which means crashing wave in your tongue. It is a very aggressive art that emphasizes strong punches and block breaking. It has a sister art named _Aelin-Gra_ which means strong dam. As you would imagine it is mostly defensive and emphasizes grappling and subduing."

Ichigo glanced around and saw several cops face-palming and grumbling under their breaths. He swore he heard one say, "There he goes again, luckily I'm not the one that has to listen to him." Apparently Ettrian was a bit of a martial arts nut and Ichigo was in for a long lesson. Luckily, **reinforcement** lasts for a long time.

As he had feared Ettrian went on for nearly half an hour before remembering there was a fight to be had. Before they actually went at it Ichigo observed him once again.

 **Title: 10th District of Dorralei, Chief of Police**

 **Name: Ettrian Carkus**

 **Race: Elf (Felmere Forest)**

 **Level: 150**

 **HP: 4,800/4,800**

 **MP: 2,400/2,400**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 110**

 **Vit: 120**

 **Dex: 180**

 **Int: 120**

 **Wis: 120**

 **Luck: 20**

 **Charm: (60+40) = 100**

 **XP: 209,839,726,220/644,245,093,800**

 **Summary: Ettrian Carkus is a man of some renown. After all, being the chief of police of the only district that holds an entrance to the Kingdom of Dorralei is an absurdly important job. A mixture of cunning, wit, battle prowess, and leadership skills has earned him the position which he has held for the last century. Many say his skills are second only to the royal family and the head of the Dorralei military.**

" **Drops": XP**

 **Bonuses**

 **Master of Aelin-Ur**

 **As you know by now Ettrian has spent much of his life honing his martial art skills. All damage dealt while using Aelin-Ur is tripled. Aelin-Ur uses both Strength and Dexterity.**

 **Supreme Zen**

 **Part of being a master martial artist is moving instinctually. While in combat Ettrian has spidey senses too and can land critical blows at random which deal triple damage.**

 **Gotta Look Good for the Ladies**

 **Ettrian has had a crush on Soliania since forever. Failing here would be so embarrassing! Health is doubled.**

'The fuck? Seriously? It's not the end of the world. Sure, he's dealing… 870 damage per hit and he might crit at random, but he's only dealing 2,610 damage at most! Ha. I'm actually going to let him hit me for a bit. Seeing his face is going to be great.'

"Alright officer, you ready to go?" ' **Limit Break**.'

"Of course." Ettrian settled into an odd stance.

When Ichigo didn't even move a muscle Ettrian became annoyed enough to make the first move. Assuming himself to be so vastly superior to his opponent that he couldn't even properly respond to his attacks Ettrian smiled as his fist connected with Ichigo's gut. He obviously confused when the human didn't react to his attack at all.

"Heh. Is that all you got? This will be cake. Hahaha. You can't even hurt me!"

Now enraged by the boy's taunt Ettrian attacked with all the power of a crashing wave. A blow to the boy's neck, one to the head, another to the gut, an attempt at breaking Ichigo's arm that failed because he couldn't move it. Becoming desperate the chief of district ten lunged at his opponent, only to be dodged with ease.

"Really? So sad."

With his superior dexterity Ichigo quickly discovered that it didn't matter if you know an attack is coming if you can't dodge it. His kick sent Ettrian flying into the wall.

 **10th District of Dorralei, Chief of Police**

 **Ettrian Carkus**

 **[0/4,800]**

 **[2,400/2,400]**

 **[Unconscious]**

 **You've succeeded in the spar. You've gained 1,288,490,188 experience points.**

"What the hell?" Genuinely confused for a moment Ichigo pulled up his **reinforcement** skill.

 **[Active Combat] Reinforcement Lvl. 13**

 **By manipulating the reiryoku found naturally within you, you can coat various body parts and harden them to increase their damage output and defense. The increase depends upon the amount you use in the technique and is split up between the limbs used.**

 **Damage Increase/Reduction: 13 per 10 RK**

 **Activation Time: 1 second per 11 RK**

 **Duration: 3 second per 1 RK**

 **This skill just leveled up.**

'For real? Kami above how much damage did I do?'

 **14,037 points of damage**

'Wow, **reinforcement** is broken. Good to know.' "Welp," Ichigo casually turned toward Soliania and Tatsuki who were seated with mouths agape. "That was fun, but I suppose we have to wait for him to wake up before he head to the castle huh?" he plopped down next to Tatsuki. "Let's check out what that gave me, eh?" He then whispered, "Can you distract Soli for me, I'm sure she'll want to ask me questions and I'd like to make this decisions without interruption. Thanks."

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 92**

 **HP: 6,580/7,280**

 **RK: 6,330/41,600**

 **Stats: 190**

 **Str: 407 +**

 **Vit: 182 +**

 **Dex: 155 +**

 **Int: 100 +**

 **Wis: 26 +**

 **Luck: 105 +**

 **Charm: 5 +**

 **XP: 74,531,264/183,500,200**

"Ha. I didn't even get a stat point. Whatever. I guess it's time to max out wisdom. No reason not to."

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 92**

 **HP: 6,580/7,280**

 **RK: 6,330/41,600**

 **Stats: 116**

 **Str: 407 +**

 **Vit: 182 +**

 **Dex: 155 +**

 **Int: 100 +**

 **Wis: - 100 +**

 **Luck: 105 +**

 **Charm: 5 +**

 **XP: 74,531,264/183,500,200**

"And you know what? I usually never give a crap about something like charisma, but I've got all these stats just sitting here."

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 92**

 **HP: 6,580/7,280**

 **RK: 6,330/0/41,600**

 **Stats: 20**

 **Str: - 408 +**

 **Vit: 182 +**

 **Dex: 155 +**

 **Int: 100 +**

 **Wis: - 100 +**

 **Luck: 105 +**

 **Charm: - 100 +**

 **XP: 74,531,264/183,500,200**

"And one into strength. Yeah, all done."

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 92**

 **HP: 6,652/7,280**

 **RK: 6,330/56,400**

 **Stats: 20**

 **Str: 408 +**

 **Vit: 182 +**

 **Dex: 155 +**

 **Int: 100 +**

 **Wis: 100 +**

 **Luck: 105 +**

 **Charm: 100 +**

 **XP: 74,531,264/183,500,200**

 **Congratulations!**

 **For bringing your Wisdom stat to 100 or more you have been given the opportunity to choose between a number of Wisdom related perks!**

 **Great Sage**

 **Spells are your weapons and reiryoku is your resource.**

 **Doubles RK regeneration.**

 **Wisdom from Beyond**

 **For eons people have believed that a higher power guides them. Maybe they're right.**

 **Every so often the player will receive helpful advice.**

 **Pure Zen**

 **Every so often monks will achieve the state of being that they seek. You get it for free.**

 **Grants access to the ability [Pure Zen]**

 **[Active Combat] Pure Zen Lvl. 1**

 **In battle achieving zen turns a struggle into a simple chess match.**

 **+20% chance to dodge**

 **1% chance to ignore all damage received from an attack**

 **Cost: 5,000 RK**

 **Duration: 30 seconds**

 **Congratulations!**

 **For bringing your Charisma stat to 100 or more you have been given the opportunity to choose between a number of Charisma related perks!**

 **Savvy Shopper**

 **Merchants the world over love you and your patronage.**

 **10% off all prices**

 **Silver Tongue**

 **You've got what is known as a silver tongue. A certain gift that allows you to convince people of your views and opinions.**

 **All Charisma related skills level up easier**

 **Taunt**

 **You piss people off.**

 **Grants access to the ability [Taunt]**

 **[Active Combat] Taunt Lvl. 1**

 **Sometimes pissing people off is a good thing.**

 **Opponent gains a 20% increase to all damage**

 **Opponent Intelligence is halved**

 **Opponents miss more**

 **Chance to Land: (Charm+Int) vs Opp. Int**

'Huh. **Great Sage** seems cool, but it'll make my **reishi absorption** feel pointless. And I keep forgetting to grind that! **Wisdom from Beyond** seems cool, but I like doing whatever I want and I'm sure I can figure out anything I want if I put enough thought into it. **Pure Zen** is probably the best choice since it gives a flat dodge increase and that sick invincibility chance. And since it can level up I know it can only get better. But **Wisdom from Beyond** might tell me super secrets or something… and so I _really_ need **Pure Zen**? I'll go with **Wisdom from Beyond** if only for the potential randomness factor.'

'As for the charisma perks… they all look great to be honest. **Silver Tongue** especially. That **speechcraft** skill will undoubtedly be useful for the rest of my life. Actually, all charisma skills are probably useful for everyday life. **Savvy Shopper** also looks good and if I'm lucky that applies to souls too. This is tough since I usually don't put anything into charisma… screw it, I'd rather save money.'

As it so happens just as he finalized his decisions Ettrian began waking up. The process was slow and painful, for him, the onlookers had a great show watching the strong man struggle to stand. A few cadets had spent the entire time gawking at Ichigo for what he had done, just as Tatsuki and Soliania had.

"What? What on Kalimba just happened?" The chief asked.

No one said a word. The cadets because they feared the consequences of informing their boss of his humiliating defeat. Tatsuki because she was still coming to terms with Ichigo's ridiculous victory. Ichigo because he didn't care and frankly enjoyed the elf's confusion. Soliania… did not hesitate.

"What happened? What happened? You just got your ass kicked by the tall glass of delicious man right here!"

She even stood up and did a small flourish to emphasize Ichigo's location. Unfortunately, due to the brightness of his aura and her lack of eyes she ended up gesturing slightly to his one bothered correcting her since she was still making her point clear.

"In-inconceivable! True, the boy has some sort of defensive technique, but… but then I fell and… what happened?"

Worried that the long lost queens exuberance would fail to convince their chief, a brave cadet walked forward. " _Well sir, that is true. You fell and once you were down the human boy kicked you. But understand it was much more than that. His kick sent you flying into the wall, see your imprint there? It'll have to be repaired._ " The cadet pointed at the large cracks in the wall. " _And it knocked you unconscious for several minutes._ " He then sort of stood at attention as he was now nervous at how Ettrian would react.

Realizing that he wouldn't accept the truth despite the physical evidence and clear explanation Soliania decided to step in before Ettrian did anything rash.

"Exactly as I foretold. This young man is terrifyingly powerful. Now accept your defeat with dignity and let's get a move on. We missed lunch and I'm beginning to feel quite peckish."

"I-I-I." The poor elf clearly wanted to defend himself, but he knew a lost cause when he saw one. "Yes my queen." He turned to Ichigo and bowed deeply. "You have been proven as the superior combatant, I'm sure that… if I had managed to stay awake for a longer period of time it would have been a marvelous battle." He straightened out and gestured toward the police department. "Now come this way. It will only take moments to call for a carriage to bring us to the castle."

"Perfect. Hey Tatsuki-" but he was interrupted by a certain jumping queen.

"Carry me Ichigo!" Without waiting for an answer Soliania dove back into his arms and snuggled up to him. He had been interesting before, and his closeness to Tatsuki made him perfect for some mature teasing, but now he was just mouth watering. 'It was so sudden. It's like he began to glow or something! He's not quite different, but he's not quite the same. Not to mention is life force just increased by an entire quarter of the original. If he can grow that much from a single battle, how powerful can this,' she shivered intensely enough to interrupt her own thoughts, ' _man_ become?'

As they walked through the halls of the police department once again Tatsuki was equally lost in thought as she stared at Ichigo's back. 'This isn't even fair. Ichigo got up to ninety-two? Just.. how. No I know how. Ettrian was treated like a boss and Ichigo got 0.1% of the experience Ettrian needed to level up, and then it got doubled because of **treasure hunter**. Damn. I really need to work my butt off if I'm going to catch up to Ichigo at all. And speaking of butts…' Her eyes trailed down to her friends rather fantastic ass. 'That charisma stat really fucking works.' It had been a solid butt before, but now, even under the baggy sweatpants he was wearing, Tatsuki could clearly see it had gotten even better. It took a lot of effort to not reach out and squeeze it. 'Ooo. My boobs got a little bigger when I boosted charisma… I wonder if his dick grew?' Those thoughts sent blood rushing to her face and led to a long series of extremely lewd daydreams that involved a lot of sex between her and Ichigo, which led to blood rushing a bit further south.

Blissfully unaware of his new impact on his two companions Ichigo merely thought. 'I wonder what the castle will be like?"

~GB~

 **AN: Another chapter. Another day spent in the fantasy world, which is named Kalimba if you missed it. There will definitely be another chapter or two that deals with Ichigo and Tatsuki's adventure there.**

 **I've fallen in love with the idea of a high fantasy esque world existing that Ichigo could access. Unexpectedly Dorralei has taken a lot of time and world building hence why are heroes are still there. I'm sorry if your sick and tired of this and want more Hollows and real world fighting, but that might be a little while.**

 **There also might be some time skips once the pair leave Kalimba. If you've been keeping track it has only been four days since Ichigo gained his gamer abilities. Five if you count the day in Kalimba. This story is taking place in October. Canon assuredly takes place some time in April or May I think. I wanted to give Ichigo time to explore the game and level up, but I now understand that that was WAY too much time. I might try and retcon that and make it the end of February or something. On the other hand this could be a good time for some of the ideas I have. Maybe I'll pull a Fairy Tail and smack you with an unexpected time skip.**

 **(Can I just say that reading that manga (I know it's schlocky shounen BS with its friendship is magic crap, but it does all the cliches to the absolute best they can be and it's world is super cool) and finishing Tenrou Island… clicking onto the next chapter and the first thing I see was "7 years later" in giant font dominating a blank page… holy fucking shit man. That shot was emotional. All I could think was "Well that's it then, they all must be dead." Give credit where credit is due, Mashima has some huge fucking balls. The following chapters were just a rollercoaster of emotions I did not expect that manga to cause. Seeing little Asuka, those guys saying hi to Lucy, I'm getting choked up just remembering it.)**

 **Anyway… sorry not sorry. I am absolutely loving what I'm doing with the story and I can't wait for what comes next, y'all just have to wait.**

 **Please leave a review**

 **Thx ;)**


	13. The F Word

**AN: Here we are, another chapter. Maybe the last chapter in fantasy world, maybe not. We'll see.**

 **You guys having a good life? Enjoying the story?**

 **You know, I just uploaded chapter ten and I'm super paranoid that people will be sick and tired of this fantasy world and I'll have to scrap these chapters in order to get back to the real world faster.**

 **Oh snap! I just saw Deadpool 2, it was amazing. And you have to stay for the second set of after credits scenes. They're fucking gold.**

 **And my little sister just got the Game Theorists jacket I bought for her months ago! Things are pretty darn great today.**

~GB~

Chapter 12 Summary: The trio enter the elven kingdom, called Dorralei, and find out that humans aren't welcome. Soliania tries to use her position as ex-queen to speed up the process of dealing with cops but is not believed. They get sent _downtown_ where Soliania proves that she's the queen by bringing up an awkward memory she shares with the chief. Then Ichigo fights him. It was funny.

~GB~

Chapter 13: The F Word

The carriage ride to the castle was extremely comfortable. The benches that the trio and Ettrian were sitting upon was exceedingly comfortable. Ichigo and Tatsuki had been in awe of the horses that pulled the carriage. They were bigger than clydesdales and pure white, the kicker though were the shining horn that protruded from each of their heads. They were being ferried around by freaking unicorns! The creatures of legend towered over the teens and elves, easily reaching ten feet in height.

The large city state's beauty was only accentuated by the view from the tall carriage. Most buildings the teens could see were white with golden accents here and there. In the distance to the west they could see a tall wooden building that Soliania informed them was the library. It was only three stories tall, but apparently it reached deep into the ground an innumerable number of floors. Basically, all knowledge that the elves of Felmere had accrued over their millennia of existence could be found there in some form or another.

Thirty minutes later the carriage slowed and turned for the first time revealing the castle in all of its glory. Much like the rest of the city it was a pure white but it seems to almost sparkle. Ichigo had turned on his **reishi absorption** and **spiritual awareness** combo when they entered the carriage and he could feel the castle… breath. It seemed to pulse with magic. But all that paled in comparison to its architectural splendor. The castle was massive. The path to the main gate could easily hold a city block and still have space along the sides for comfortable roads. The gates were pure gold and shined in the afternoon sun. The castle had spires for days that never seemed to stop, the tallest one could easily be mistaken for a skyscraper.

The grounds around the castle were lush lawns with hedge mazes scattered about. (It's Cinderella's castle fused with Windsor castle with a splash of magic okay? I could never describe it how I'd like to so imagine what you want to. Actually, google "fantasy castles" and pick the ninth one. It should have a knight in the foreground and the castle in the background. That but less… dead looking.)

While the two teens absorbed what they were seeing Soliania said ,"Oh my! It is good to be home!" She felt even almost as good now that she was in close range of the castle as she did in Ichigo's arms."I'd almost forgotten what it was like to feel so much magic."

'That's what it is.' Thought Ichigo. When they had entered the castle gates and began the final stretch of their journey he had felt a change in the air around them. It was similar to Sacred Training Dungeon, but… lighter? It was very difficult for him to describe besides using the word "different".

"This castle is absolutely gorgeous." Tatsuki said, the awe still clear in her voice. She had visited Himeji Castle while competing in a tournament and had been blown away by the enormity of the main structure. This castle blew that one out of the water, sure Himeji has multiple buildings that are considered part of it and Dorralei was a single structure, but Tatsuki was sure they were comparable in terms of total space available. "I've never seen something this big." Sure, there were probably a bunch of skyscrapers that had more space, but those were just lifeless rectangles. Even without spiritual awareness Tatsuki could physically feel the magic in the air, everything felt so alive.

Finally the carriage stopped at a large entrance. There weren't any doors, instead there was a huge archway that led to small courtyard. The courtyard was rather pleasant as it was dotted with squares of grass which held beautiful little trees that bloomed with some sort flower that ichigo and Tatsuki were unfamiliar with. There were also several benches placed so that visitors could relax and enjoy the beauty the courtyard offered. It was beyond the courtyard that a large set of ornately carved wooden doors could be seen.

It was actually Soliania who exited the carriage first and began leading the group into the castle.

"Oh this is marvelous! Come, come, children." the eyeless elf practically skipped with newfound vigor. "The Elmaya flowers smell absolutely delightful don't they?" She sat on a bench that seemed more worn than its neighbors. "Ahh, me and Erik used to sit here and just talk the days away." She then almost ran to the double doors and threw them open.

" _I'M HOOOME!_ " she screamed to no one.

But in the distance a faint crashing could be heard. When the teens and chief got over seeing Soliania act in such a silly manner they caught up to her by the double doors. By then the faint crashing sound became a shocking loud rush of footsteps that culminated in a elf dressed in an over the top green, frilly dress fly tackling Soliania to the ground.

" _Sister! Sister! Sister!_ " The yells were an odd mix of elated and brokenly sad. " _Oh how I missed you sister._ " It settled on crying.

Soliania simply smiled an absolutely serene smile and patted her sobbing sister's head. " _There there Amkrissa. I missed you too._ " She simply held Amkrissa as the younger elf cried into her bosom.

A few awkward moments for the onlookers later Amkrissa's sobbing decreased to the point that she remembered that there were others present. But she wasn't embarrassed by her actions, far from it, how could anyone expect her to act any differently?

" _I assume that you were the one who found her Ettrian? Thank you._ " She then realized that the other beings present were in fact human. " _And these are the scoundrels you no doubt rescued her from! Quickly, I want them drawn and quartered. Announce to the entire city that there will be a public execution-_ "

Amkrissa's angry rant was cut off but Soliania's laughter. " _Oh sweet, sweet sister. Ettrian did not save me. It was the very humans you are trying to execute._ " She shook her head. " _Ettrian told me about how you've poisoned the city against humans. I'm very disappointed in you, but that is a discussion for later. And don't try anything with the boy._ " She punctuated her last statement with a short, but poignant glare.

The current queen wasn't sure how to react to her elder sister's statements. ' _Hmph, I suppose I can tolerate them for a bit, but why did she say the last part? She can't even see the boy._ ' She looked back at the human boy and scrutinized him. On a very basic lavel she supposed he could compare to Ettrian in terms of looks, but she'd never fraternize with a human.

" _Fine. Well come on in then. You look horrific sister, I doubt wherever you have been has not been treating you well. And I'm sure we can find a replacement for your eyes._ " She then began to walk into the castle proper, but she was stopped by her sister's soft voice.

"Come now Amkrissa. These younglings freed me and slayed the mighty Krung. I don't plan on abandoning them to wander the castle. Also, please speak in the common human tongue as a courtesy to them."

Amkrissa grimaced in clear displeasure at the notion of accommodating the humans. "I suppose I can. Well, then… follow me to the doctor's office."

The entire group followed without hesitation, but Ichigo and Tatsuki could practically feel Amkrissa's disgust. Eventually Ichigo worked up the nerve to ask the question they both had.

"Uhh, you guys have a doctor in the castle?"

Surprisingly it was Ettrian who answered. "Yes we do, while Soliania and Amkrissa are the only two children of King Venali, he had eight siblings who all had children. Amkrissa herself has three children, eight grandchildren and twenty great grandchildren and the newest generation is beginning to pop up so there should be three or four younglings running around here. That doesn't even include all of their aunts, cousins, and other relatives. At the moment there are about 200 residences of the castle with royal blood, since many move out, but that does not include the massive amount of staff members. So you can imagine the need for a live in doctor would be high. King Venali found the best doctor our people had produced and employed him, over the years the office has become more a department and there are currently twenty doctors available at a moments notice." He seemed oddly pleased with his explanation.

"Oh, wow. But… how do you know all that?" asked Tatsuki.

Ettrian actually blushed at the question. "Oh, uhm, I actually married one of Queen Amkrissa's granddaughters-"

He was interrupted by the queen, "Indeed he did. Damn cradle robber. Darshee is almost 200 years younger than you!" Her words weren't harsh, there was some joke there that the humans were missing.

That didn't stop Tatsuki from asking, "200 hundred years?"

Ettrian chuckled good-naturedly, "That must sound terrible to you humans, but we elves can easily live up to a millennia and a half and more. As long as an elf is at least 200 years of age most people do not care about the age of their partner. Not to mention Darshee was almost 300 when we married."

"Well, that is wonderful to hear Ettrian. I suppose saying "welcome to the family" now would be a bit too late." She looked at her sister. "Remind me, is Darshee the one who looks like Aunt-"

"Shyael? Yes." she answered as the group turned a corner and ran into a small family of four. "Oh? Hello there Orlpar, Duilya."

The one who the teens assumed to be Orlpar blinked in surprise. " _Grandmother! How are you? And-_ " His face became one of extreme shock when he saw who she was with. " _Aunt Soliania? Kori has blessed us!_ " Even though he was holding a young elf he quickly walked up to the older sister and began examining her. " _How can it be! Where have you been? How are-_ "

He was cut off by his wife. "Orlpar relax, please. And speak in the common human tongue, for there are members of said race present." She approached hand in hand with a female elf who looked, by human standards, about ten years old.

"O-oh. You're correct, my apologies. But still! It's wonderful-"

"Please Orlpar." interrupted Amkrissa. "If you haven't noticed, my elder sister has not opened her eyes. She is currently lacking them. We are on our way to the doctor's office. She needs rest. I plan on hosting an event for her return tomorrow evening, you'll told the entire story later. Now,, you seemed to be heading somewhere when we ran into each other. Don't let us hold you up."

Grasping the situation better than her royal husband Duilya said, "You are correct about that my queen. Melarue has her afternoon schooling and Camus must be fed. Come along husband." With a simple curtsey Duilya grabbed her husbands elbow and began to lead him down the hallway.

Just as they were going to turn a corner Tatsuki was able to get the infant elf to wave at her.

"Wow, what's it like living with so many family members?" Tatsuki asked. She barely remembered her father and she genuinely couldn't name any of her extended family, outside of her few friends Tatsuki really didn't share her life with many people.

Amkrissa answered, "It can be quite the hassle to remember who is who and there are birthdays celebrated on a near daily basis, but I suppose… It's nice. There's never a worry about who can take of the children since there is always an aunt to take care of them. We don't really need to host any reunions and ultimately you're never lonely. There is always someone to socialize with and I'm rather proud to say that there have been no squabbles in this family for decades."

"Huh… that sounds… nice."

The rest of the trip was made with little conversation. Soliania and Amkrissa pointed out notable paintings and rooms every so often, but besides that there was just a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere.

The doctor's office was immediately evident to the two teenagers. The entrance was quite large and anyone could easily see the pristine whiteness of the room inside. Inside there were several floating beds a few of which held elves. There were also three elves walking about in long doctor's coats checking up on the patients.

"Woah." exclaimed Tatsuki and Ichigo simultaneously.

Just as the group of five entered one of the doctors had stood by a bed with a patient and summoned a bunch of screens. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie!

Ettrian noticed there surprise and laughed. "Amazing isn't it? These diagnostic spells were developed within the last decade and have done a lot to help keep our people healthy."

"It's wonderful." said Amkrissa. "But we are here for a specific purpose. Halamar!" she yelled.

One of the doctors that had been meandering about the patients turned on a dime to face the queen's voice. "Mother!" He began walking towards them and quickly sped up when he realized his long lost aunt of with them. "Aunt Soli! Kori be praised! You've been found!" His elation became concern when he realized she wasn't opening her eyes. "Auntie… what… what happened?"

With a small, sad smile Soliania answered, "They took them Hal."

"Oh." The mood took a sharp turn to depressing.

Ichigo was the one to try and break it up, "Well, that's why we're here right? Halamar is it? Can you guys give Soli new eyes?"

Halamar quite surprised by the redheaded human's presence and forwardness, but he answered without missing a beat. "Actually yes. Implants using enchanted orbs made out of andesite have been proven effective in restoring eyesight. They're extremely obvious as they glow a brilliant blue, but they also grant the user mage sight so…"

"Not even a question Hal. Where are we going?" asked Soliania.

"There's a special runic enchantment room down the hall. While physically all we need to do is put them in your eye sockets, the spell used to connect them to your nervous system is long and tiring. Don't worry, I know it. Still, the process will take about six hours. Just in time for dinner." He then looked at each other person in the group. "Unfortunately mother, neither you, Ettrian, nor these humans will be able to be present. The process is extremely delicate and the presence of other beings can easily cause the implants to explode."

"I understand Halamar. These humans will be getting a tour anyway. But I will be back here in six hours."

Halamar chuckled, "Of course mother. I expected nothing less. Now, if you'd come with me Auntie…"

"Lead the way Hal. See you later sister. And _see_ you later Ichi~" With one final flirtatious eyebrow wiggle she was off.

Everyone blinked.

"She certainly hasn't loss her charms…" muttered Ettrian as the group of four left the infirmary.

"...Yes." Amkrissa turned toward the two humans. "While I may not enjoy your race as a whole, the fact is that I have you two to thank for saving my sister. I will give you a tour of the grounds. Ettrian, I assume you have duties you must attend to, so off you go." She shooed him a away.

"M-my queen. Is it appropriate to leave you alone with two unknown humans? No offense."

Ichigo opened his mouth to retort about how offended he was, but was cut off by Tatsuki, "Of course not. We're strangers, I get that."

"While that may be true, I'm sure I could handle them if need be. Not to mention, I doubt either of you would like to be at odds with the people whose missing queen you just saved."

Ichigo answered this time, "You're right. We are here for a reason after all."

"Oh? This is the first time I'm hearing this. I had assumed Soliania wanted to come home." pondered a confused Amkrissa.

"Well actually, we were looking to hire a staff to run Fort Felmere and take care of the female ogres we freed along with Soliania."

Amkrissa was shocked. "Truly? I knew Krulp was a cruel being, but to have sex slaves…"

"I didn't even tell you what he did to all the missing elves…"

Ettrian interjected before his queen could ask the obvious question, "Unfortunately, these humans claim to have found several… experiments during their battles in the fortress. Despite Krulp's age, for an orc, they had to partake in mortal combat with the cur because he had recently discovered an elixir that granted him his youth. I assume that is why his kin had been kidnapping and experimenting on our people."

Amkrissa was troubled, deep furrows marked his normally pristine forehead, "I had assumed several had simply left without using the proper channels… I… damn. Our castle holds within it a small army of servants, twenty will not be missed. They, along with a regiment of guards, will be sent with you upon your return to the fortress."

"Thank you very much, but we had been planning on hiring and paying them…"

She chuckled. "You can still do that of course, but I doubt there'll be much use for currency outside of this city."

"Vacations maybe? I mean, our long term goal was to have people train the ogres to be self sufficient. You see, they weren't just sex slaves, they were Krulp's daughters as well. Not a single one of them know life outside of their dark cells."

Hearing that, Amkrissa stopped walking, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply through her nose. "I see. Well, most people have bank accounts. If you establish your own account it will be simple to make a direct deposit system. But that is something that can be done later-"

"Oh shit!" exclaimed Ichigo.

"What the hell Ichigo?" asked a confused and slightly alarmed Tatsuki.

"The ogres!"

"I believe we just spoke about them child."

"No, no, no. We have the ogres."

"How could you possibly have them?"

"Oh shit!" exclaimed Tatsuki.

"Yeah, oh shit. Queen Amkrissa, we have to back to the infirmary. And it's probably important that you have people who can speak ogre there too." Ichigo said as he turned around and began marching towards the infirmary.

Still confused, but willing to follow, Amkrissa asked, "How do you have the ogres human?"

Tatsuki answered, "We have a special ability that allows us to put things into our own personal dimension. No time passes there so we put all the ogre women there and now have them. We both forgot about it in the excitement our arrival."

Amkrissa nearly stumbled in shock at the revelation, "How is such a thing possible."

"Ehh… Uhh… don't worry about. It's just a thing we can do." Tatsuki said in an attempt to placate the confused queen.

By now they were moving at an odd pace between walking and jogging, perhaps, speed walking.

"It is not that simple child! You two just told me you are capable of sneaking living beings into any place undetected. That mean you can invade any place at any time and probably decimate your opponents if you have a large enough force. That's extremely concerning."

"Huh, when you say it like that we're kind of super Trojan horses Ichi."

"Oh, that's cool. Ok we're here." He walked up to the nearest doctor. "Excuse me sir, do you have space for about forty patients?"

"F-forty!" asked the surprised elf. "It would take a bit of time, but we can arrange for such a thing. On top of that we'd need to call in more people to take care of that many. Where are these new patients?"

Ichigo simply gestured vaguely to the air, "Around. How long will it take?"

"Upwards of an hour, after all I need to make some calls and those elves need to arrive." He turned to the queen who was standing behind Ichigo, "Are you okay with all of this my queen?"

Said queen looked at Ichigo with a calculating gaze, "Hmph. I suppose so. You will need to call in some translators as well. Each of these new patients are ogres."

"O-ogres!" The doctor almost protested, but a quick glare from Amkrissa shut him up, "Of course. I'll move as quickly as possible." The doctor then turned and practically jogged down the corridor Soliania and Halamar went down.

Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief, forgetting about the ogres was extremely embarrassing. "Awesome. Anyway." He turned toward Amkrissa. "We were going to take a tour?"

~GB~

The group of three started the tour with a visit to the kitchens. Tatsuki and Ichigo hadn't gotten to eat since breakfast and their arrival had interrupted Amkrissa's lunch. After filling their bellies with exotic, for the teens, and delicious foods, they were off. The kitchens were directly connected to the grand ballroom which certainly earned its name. Ichigo estimated that an entire football field could fit inside! From the ballroom they passed by the servants quarters, which was nicer than any hotel the humans had stayed in. They trio passed by hundreds of bed chambers, solars, lavatories, boudoirs, and even the odd chapel. Apparently elves had dedicated locations to praise their goddess Kori. But it was the library that stole the tour's show.

It was massive. Amkrissa told them it was smaller than the public one they saw from a distance during their carriage ride, but still, it was far bigger than anything they had seen before. And most importantly, there were a whole bunch of glowing books.

Tatsuki had been pondering about how Ichigo came to learn the ogre language and came to the obvious assumption that he learned from a skill book just like he learned **byakurai**."Amkrissa, do you know if there are any basic Eldarin books here?"

The queen raised a single eyebrow, "You wish to speak our language?"

"I mean, I'm sure it'd make communicating with everyone a bit easier."

"That's wonderful, I assume you wish to learn as well boy?"

"The name's Ichigo. But yeah I do."

"Fine. Follow me. We have a dedicated children's section. I'm sure something there will be able to help you two."

Put off by the fact that they were going to use children's books, but too curious to say no they followed her to the leftmost wall.

"Here we are," she reached up towards a shelf, "This what we use to teach children here. There a hundreds of them so help yourself." She then handed over simple books written in language neither teen could speak, yet.

Just as Tatsuki had hoped the book shined with a dull glow and when she held it a text box popped up.

 **Language Book: Eldarin**

 **Use to gain basic knowledge of the Elven language: Eldarin.**

 **Use?**

 **[Y/N]**

Ichigo didn't have time to warn his old friend before she hit 'Y' so Tatsuki ended up letting out a surprised yelp when the book suddenly burned up in her hands.

 **Congratulations!**

 **You have learned [Eldarin].**

 **[Passive Utility] Eldarin Lvl. 1**

 **The language of elves is one most consider majestic and beautiful. The reason to that is because elven vocal chords are as different to a humans as an ogres. But you're living your life in a video game… lucky you.**

 **You now understand and can speak 1% of the elven tongue**

Amkrissa was clearly perturbed by what Tatsuki had done, but not quite mad, more curious. "What on Kalimba did you just do?"

Ichigo thinking on the fly, the high intelligence and wisdom might have helped, quickly fabricated an answer, "Like Tatsuki said earlier we have special abilities. What just happened there was Tatsuki's magic going a little out of control in her excitement. I must apologize for that."

"Ah, I see. Mages in training. I understand, and like I said, there are many books to go around. Have another."

"Oh, uh thank you so much!" Ichigo replied.

"It's nothing. I remember my training days when I was quite young. I lit half of my room on fire once! Just try to be a bit more careful from now on."

"Th-thank you ma'am, I will." an embarrassed Tatsuki replied.

"Now, I believe an hour has passed. Shall we return to the infirmary?"

The walk back was a bit long, but when Ichigo arrived he was astonished to find the main room filled with a ton of floating beds. The kicker? They were in layers as if there invisible floors in the air.

"You guys never cease to amaze. I'm guessing you can fly to some degree?" asked Ichigo.

The doctor from earlier answered. "Yes and no. Many of our doctors have learned a spell called false step that projects a mirage of the user anywhere they wish within a ten meter range. The useful part is that we can actually see through the mirage so the patients in the air can be easily accessed. And the beds move with ease so we will be able to move them up and down if we need to. There are thirty doctors on duty now, where are our patients."

"Just one second. You said these beds easily move? Let's set up a conveyer belt in front of me so I can put the girls down quickly and efficiently."

"That sounds like a great idea, give me a moment." The doctor turned and made a few orders to some others in Eldarin. "Ok, we're all set. Here you go."

"Alright. Don't be too surprised. Oh, and I think the girls will be scared so be gentle."

Ichigo pulled up his inventory and began pulling out the freed ogres. Every single elf present watched in awe as the human pulled out forty female ogres from absolutely nowhere with any sort of incantation or magic use. As he predicted several ogres were quite scared and had to be restrained, but the translators helped calm them down quickly. Once he was done the doctors got to work caring for their new patients, though many were still dazed by what they had witnessed.

"I'll be honest Ichigo, I had not expected your story to be entirely true. Your abilities are just as scary as I assumed them to be. But no matter. These doctors have a lot of work to do, let's go and set up an account for you." Amkrissa then turned and began leaving the infirmary followed closely by Ichigo and Tatsuki.

~GB~

The last five hours had been the most boring that either teen had ever experienced in their lives. First they had to get official citizenship documentation and identifications. The humans got a lot of odd looks, but there was never a problem since they were constantly accompanied by the queen. Neither Ichigo nor Tatsuki had been prepared to take important pictures that day. The scariest part was that they knew if Amkrissa hadn't been there the process would have taken much longer.

Then they went to the bank. It looked easily similar to the how the Parthenon must have in its prime. Despite its impressive visage the inside was rather typical of a bank. Tellers lined each wall and there were a few semi-private offices in the middle. The only big difference was the huge entrance that dominated the back wall.

"Where does that go?" Tatsuki asked.

"That leads down to the vaults. Every single citizen who has an account owns a vault. The first floor has small ones and they increase in size for about ten floors after which each floor is a vault unto itself." Amkrissa answered.

"Woah. Who needs entire floors for their money?"

"You might think it's for the kingdom, but the royal treasury is actually beneath the castle. If memory serves only two floor vaults are being used, one is for the commander of our military and the other is for the archmage of the college in the library. Both elves are over 1500 years old and have been very powerful for a long time."

"That's insane…" muttered Ichigo as he imagined the possible levels of such men.

"Yes, quite. But we are here to open accounts for the two of you and potentially set up a payment method for your future employees."

With all the swiftness of a sloth high on cannabis Ichigo and Tatsuki opened bank accounts. The creation of the account itself took seconds it was Ichigo attempting to hand over his money that took some time… on his part.

'Ok I've got… 401,495,000 yen right now. I know that there is no way I'll need more that 10,000,000 yen at this point in my life and even if I did, I'm sure it would take too long for me to grind for cash, especially since I now have the **treasure hunter** perk. Obviously Tatsuki has earned a lot of this money… but I can buy anything she wants so I'll count that as a non-issue. I'm guessing I'm converting this 391,495,000 to this world's currency. Can you do that game?'

 **Of Course**

 **391,495,000 yen converted into:**

 **37 Platinum**

 **192 Gold**

 **2 Silver**

 **50 Copper**

 **Before you collect cash drops you can now choose what kind of currency you will receive.**

'Looks good.' Ichigo then turned his attention to the bank teller they were with. Everyone was staring at him quite intently making him realize he had been quiet for longer than intended. "Oh. Sorry for making you wait. I want to deposit 37 platinum and 180 gold… that's it."

Despite his casual delivery the teller reacted quite loudly. "My goodness! That immediately makes you eligible for a fifth floor vault!" He pulled on his collar in an unnecessary effort to lower his temperature. "Your average elf only sees a few platinum in their lifetime, for a human to have so much…"

Amkrissa rolled her eyes, "Yes, Yes, yes. The boy is quite wealthy. Can we continue? We have to set up some direct deposits with… thirty royal servants and ten guards. Twenty silver a week for the servants and thirty for the guards."

"Oh. Of course my queen. Which accounts will these be for?"

Amkrissa had lived in the castle for all of her 700 years of life and as queen she was directly involved with the hiring of new staff. Despite the teens' reservations about hiring random servants who didn't know they would be leaving their homes for a long time, Amkrissa selected them anyway. She chose exclusively females to make the ogres more comfortable and most of them were on the younger side. Amkrissa reassured the teens that these woman would have jumped at the chance to leave Dorralei.

After a few hours of the teller writing out forms of employment and Ichigo signing said forms he said, "With that all set I just want to be clear that you can only employ these women for… hahaha, eleven and a half years. As long as you two don't go missing for an entire decade I'm sure that everything will be alright. Please have a nice stay in Dorralei."

~GB~

 **AN: Now I'm getting a little bored with fantasy world. Next chapter will be the last come hell or high water. There's so much I want to do with canon that I just want to hurry up and do it! But there is one last important tidbit of information that will be gained here.**

 **Hope you guys like the chapter.**

 **Thx ;)**


	14. Sweet Surprise

**AN: Alright. Last fantasy chapter for a while… probably. I'm more tired of a lack of action and adventure and THE GAME than I am with the fantasy world. I have whole bunch of fun world building and lore I've made up for it and I can't wait for Ichigo and friends to explore it.**

 **This chapter SHOULD finish with the whole reason I've made this fantasy world so I hope you guys like it.**

 **GOD I"M SO SORRY. Life, laziness, and another fanfic got in the way of this update. But here it is, I hope to return to the Friday update schedule moving forward.**

~GB~

Chapter 13 Summary: Ichigo, Tatsuki, Soliania, and their escort Ettrian arrived to the castle. They then meet up with the current queen and Soliania's younger sister Amkrissa who has a distinct dislike of humans. Turns out that elves make good eyeball replacements so Soliania went to do that and the teens led by Amkrissa went on a tour of the castle. Ichigo dropped of the ogre sex slaves so the could be taken care of and then they went to open a bank account. Fun.

~GB~

Chapter 14: Sweet Surprise

Ichigo had eaten lavishly only once in his life that he could remember and it was a couple of days ago with Tatsuki. Sure they hadn't dressed up or made a reservation, but the food was delicious, expensive, and there was a lot of it. The most the Kurosaki family had ever done was go out to a local restaurant once or twice a year, they weren't poor, but they weren't able to afford the newest things either.

As he sat at near the head of a ridiculously massive table completely covered by the most succulent dishes he had ever laid eye on Ichigo realized he had been selfish. He had spent 100,000,000 yen on buying a fucking gym membership! Sure, it's a pretty cool gym, but that was enough money to buy his family a brand new house and a pretty nice one at that. Every toy, trip, and movie his little sisters ever wanted to see was something Ichigo could now easily provide for. Even his annoying, but now mystifying, father could retire and never work again if Ichigo decided to pay for the bills. Private school! Yuzu and Karin could have the greatest education imaginable and do whatever they wanted with their lives now that he made so much money. He was broken out of his contemplation by the beautiful voice of Queen Amkrissa.

"My children! My friends! My subjects! I have gathered you here for this feast for a very special occasion. Some of you already know why, but please be patient. First, I'd like to introduce you all to Ichigo Kurosaki and Tatsuki Arisawa."

The two humans in question stood. Gone were their simple workout clothes that they had been wearing for almost three days now. Instead Ichigo wore a flattering dark blue suit that hugged his body magnificently, at least that's what most of the females in the room thought. Tatsuki wore a blood red dress that made it very difficult for Ichigo to relax, she looked ridiculously hot! In all his years of knowing her he had never seen her wear a dress much less one that was so… revealing.

"Many of you are no doubt extremely confused by the presence of two humans. For centuries I've been quite vocal about my disgust for their kind, but their deeds cannot be ignored even by someone like myself. They unknowingly risked their lives in order to save someone very dear to me and I'm sure to all of you. Allow me to reintroduce to you all the reason behind this feast: Soliania-" Her voice choked up and tears could be seen pooling on the edges of her eyes. "Soliania, please stand and see everyone who is here for you."

At the mention of her name the entire hall fell dead silent. The anticipation was palpable as Ichigo helped her up to her feet, even a day after coming home she was still a bit weak, or he liked touching Ichigo, one of those two. The attendees let out a collective gasp as Soliania stood to her full height of six feet and opened her brightly glowing eyes.

She giggled at the reaction, "Yes. It is very good to be home. Even better to actually see you all. Especially you Ichigo." She whispered. Ever since the operation was over the evening before Soliania had spent a lot of time telling him that.

Amkrissa rolled her eyes. "While I'm sure all of you wish to hear the story of what had occurred, but right now is the time for eating, so please enjoy!"

It took a moment for everyone else to truly register what their queen had said in light of the return of their previous queen, but eventually the mouth watering smells of the food drew their attention.

Most of the feast ended up being Soliania having to teach Ichigo and Tatsuki how to eat like nobles. Onlookers were given a hilarious show that mostly entailed Soliania slapping their hands repeatedly and telling them what they should be doing instead. When dessert arrived the first courageous elf stepped forth and asked Soliania about everything that happened. That opened the floodgates and eventually the hall turned into a theatre in which she could tell her story. Many weeped for what their queen had gone through, but once Ichigo and Tatsuki began telling their part in the story the mood became much lighter. Some elves even offered their services to them in order to take care of the pitiful female ogres.

At the end of the night, when all of the guests had returned to their homes and the teens had been able to change out of their formal clothes, Soliania, Tatsuki, and Ichigo found themselves luxuriating in Soliania's old room.

Soliania was the one to ask the big question, "So what now? The two valiant knights have successfully returned the long lost queen and even freed a bunch of slaves. You've almost completed your self-made mission to sustain and support the ogres as well. Will you two return to your land or…"

The teens exchanged a glance and Ichigo answered, "Well… yeah. I mean, as Tatsuki said two days ago, we hadn't even planned on being here for more than a few hours and tomorrow will be the fifth day. After we situate the girls tomorrow I think we'll finally leave."

"Ah."

The silence was depressing. Sure they had only known Soliania for a few days, but her situation and how fun she was as a person made her easy to like. Even Tatsuki realized she would miss the flirtatious elf queen.

"I wish to join the two of you on your travels."

The teens blinked in surprise making Soliania laugh.

"Oh don't act so surprised. I owe you two my life. 750 years I've walked this land and never have I gone beyond Felmere. Each and every minute of these last 200 I've wished for freedom and now that I have it I don't want to spend it in one place. Besides," She looked directly into Ichigo's eyes, "you my dear slab of sexy man meat, are far too interesting to ignore."

Tatsuki's left eye twitched at the comment. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Hmm... well… I can sense auras pretty well, life energy and all that. And you Ichigo have the most confusing and, frankly, disturbing aura I have ever felt. The different races have generally similar "looks" and "feels" and if there is anything irregular about them… it's usually a bad thing. But I've been around you two for a while now and you've done nothing irregular outside of being sexy and powerful. Still, your mere presence is equal parts soothing and bright and dark and mysterious."

Ichigo was genuinely surprised, he knew his sisters and himself felt different, but Soliania but putting some real words to it. "Can you elaborate? Be more specific?"

"I suppose so. First, picture your… soul as a ball. Ok? A normal human's is an off white while yours has a distinct yellowish tint to it, but that's only half of your soul. The other half, actually a little less than half, is a pitch black darkness that feels pure evil. These halves are actively at war. Then, to top it all off, you have the general feel of an angel. Only lesser and deader, like it's barely there. Oddly enough Tatsuki also has a bit of that darkness, except it's very faint."

At the end of her explanation Ichigo leaned back on the comfy chair he was sitting in and closed his eyes. 'Seems like she quite definitively described my aura and she did a whole hell of a lot better than I did. Darkness… what on earth can be pitch black and vile?' Oh he knew, but Ichigo dared not even think it as that would only make it more real. 'And she said my human soul has a yellow edge… does that mean I might actually be part Quincy like Ishida? And it's easy to assume the angle like aura has to do with the fact that dad is definitely a shinigami.'

"That's weird, but also makes sense in a way. Hmm… there's a small issue with you joining us. We're not from around here…"

Soli rolled her eyes, "Obviously you aren't, but like I said-"

Tatsuki interjected, "No, no, no, no, no. You've got it wrong. We're not from this… plane of existence, is the best way to put it. Your entire world is completely alien to us."

Soliania blinked as she absorbed the new information. "Uhh… I suppose I still want to-"

"Soli." Interrupted Ichigo. "Do you have any magic that you can use to disguise yourself?"

"…No. Elven magic revolves around healing being one with nature, I know some camouflage techniques, but nothing akin to what you're asking."

More silence.

"Well, maybe you can help take care of the ogre females? At least then you can travel back and forth between the fortress and Dorralei." Suggested Tatsuki.

Soliania sighed, "I suppose so."

Ichigo sighed as well, " I know it sucks, and I'm sorry. Tatsuki and I definitely would love to travel with you more, but I know no real way for you to involve yourself in our everyday lives without raising a million alarms. But hey. We'll visit from time to time. Right?"

"Yeah. Definitely." agreed Tatsuki.

"I guess that's something."

More uncomfortable silence as friends tried to reconcile parting ways.

Ichigo yawned, "Well… it's late and I'm tired. I'm off to bed. Have a good night Soli." he then stood up and left the room.

Tatsuki also stood, but went over to Soliania and hugged her. "I'm sorry you can't some with us, but we'll definitely visit ok?"

"Thank you, truly."

"No a problem. Have a good night Soliania." And with her part said Tatsuki left as well.

Alone and sad Soliania curled up into her bed and attempted to fall asleep. Just as her eyes began to close for the final time a blue screen appeared in front of her.

~GB~

Similar to their initial trip Ichigo loaded up all the female ogres into his inventory and Tatsuki loaded all of the elven servants into her own. Soliania was with them as well, once again demanding to be carried by Ichigo, and she was oddly spritely. The teens had been sure that even a 750 year old elven queen would still be a tiny bit sad given the bad news they gave her last night. Then again she survived as a prisoner for 200 years so maybe it's not all too odd.

It took several hours for all the ogres and servants to situate themselves in Felmere Fortress. The first hour was letting the servants acclimate themselves to their new home for the foreseeable future. Soliania was quite enthusiastic while giving them an in depth tour and telling stories of her past. The servants and guards quite easily decided to dty in the servant's quarters as they would have in centuries past.

The next four hours were spent calming the ogres down, though they were much more amenable after their healing session in Dorralei, and introducing them to their new servants/teachers. Soliania once again took charge as she explained to each and every ogre individually exactly what Ichigo's plans for them were, they wouldn't acknowledge Tatsuki for some reason, and how their lives were going to be from now on. Many of the ogres wept in thanks, for which Ichigo was grateful he understood a bit more of the language now, and pledged their loyalty to "the scary savior."

'That scary savior?' Where'd they get that- Oh. When I blew up on Tatsuki… oh well.' " _Thank you. Live Good._ " was his clumsy answer to all of their thanks.

Once everything was settled and Soliania had set up her old room Tatsuki said, "Welp. I think it's time to go now. Ichigo?"

The fifteen year old boy sighed. "Yeah, I suppose so. Let's say our goodbyes and walk away a good distance so we don't just disappear on all of these people."

The goodbyes were short, after all it's not like any of the servants or ogres were close with Ichigo and Tatsuki and the ogres had already given their thanks. The had expected Soliania to be all teary eyed and over the top, but she seemed rather… uplifted? Thus, it was with heavy hearts that the duo began their short trek through the grassy plains.

After about a kilometer Ichigo stopped. "Alright, I think this is far enough. **ID Escape**."

The customary shattered glass look overtook the world, but it didn't break.

"W-what?" asked a befuddled Ichigo before a humongous blue screen appeared in front of him.

 **What? You thought I'd let you do all that for nothing? No no no.**

 **Secret Quest Completed!**

 **Breaker of Chains: After defeating Krulp you discovered that the ogre tyrant was more of a monster than either of you expected.**

 **Objective: Free the Ogre Slaves**

 **Bonus Objective: Free Soliania Dorralei**

 _ **Secret Objectives: Return Soliania to her Kingdom, Set up the Ogres to live good lives, create a good rapport with the Felmere Elves, Become a Lord**_

 **Rewards: Title: Breaker of Chains, 2,000,000 XP, 1,000,000 yen**

 **Bonus Reward: New Companion/Teacher**

 _ **Secret Rewards: 100,000,000 yen, 200,000,000, Max Reputation in Dorralei, First Castle in your new Kingdom**_

 **Yeah, check that shit out.**

"Woah." was all the teens could get out. Then Soliania appeared.

"Hey you two!" the elf yelled as she tackled Ichigo who deftly caught her.

"So… companion slash teacher?" asked Tatsuki.

"Uhuh. The game appeared before me last night and explained everything. I'm going to something called the Abyss where I can teach you Elf Magic, which is druidic in nature, give you charisma training, and you guy have the option to bring me along to any dungeons you guys enter." she happily explained.

"That makes a lot of sense especially since there are so many shop spots in there." Responded Ichigo. "But what's with me being a lord and earning my first castle for my new kingdom?"

 **Patience is a virtue Ichigo. Go over your stats and then we'll talk.**

"Sheesh fine." He looked at Soli, "Are you already-"

"In the party? Yeah I am, once the world began to break I was added. Check out my stats!"

 **Title: Lady Felmere**

 **Name: Soliania Dorralei**

 **Race: Elf (Felmere Forest)**

 **Level: 200**

 **HP: 1,600/1,600**

 **MP: 12,000/12,000**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 80**

 **Vit: 80**

 **Dex: 90**

 **Int: 300**

 **Wis: 300**

 **Luck: 50**

 **Charm: 100**

 **XP: 27,702,923,682,450/659,706,976,665,000**

"Holy fuck balls what the hell?" asked Tatsuki.

"I know isn't it great?" gushed Soliania. "I haven't been able to decide what stats I get, but from now on I can! I also have a whole bunch of skills and perks, it's awesome."

"That's great Soli, but the game also talked about us checking out our levels so…"

"Yes, yes, of course. Take your time, I'll just look through my menu." Soliania said as she got out of Ichigo's arms and lazed about on the grass.

Tatsuki had already pulled up her stat page. "Wow."

 **Title: Karate Queen**

 **Name: Tatsuki Arisawa**

 **Race: Human~**

 **Level: 79**

 **HP: 4,000/4,000**

 **RK: 3,000/3,000**

 **Stats: 100**

 **Str: 190 +**

 **Vit: 100 +**

 **Dex: 100 +**

 **Int: 50 +**

 **Wis: 50 +**

 **Luck: 5 +**

 **Charm: 50 +**

 **XP: 7,469,077/32,767,400**

"But, the decision is pretty easy."

 **Title: Karate Queen**

 **Name: Tatsuki Arisawa**

 **Race: Human~**

 **Level: 79**

 **HP: 4,000/4,000**

 **RK: 4,000/4,000**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 190**

 **Vit: 100**

 **Dex: 100**

 **Int: 100**

 **Wis: 100**

 **Luck: 5**

 **Charm: 50**

 **XP: 7,469,077/32,767,400**

 **Congratulations!**

 **For bringing your Intelligence stat to 100 or more you have been given the opportunity to choose between a number of Intelligence related perks!**

 **Mind Over Matter**

… **Or rather, mind over experience. You're so smart that you figured out an easier way to level up! Good for you!**

 **10% less Experience required to level up**

 **Megamind**

 **Your massive intelligence has resulted in the beginnings of psychic abilities!**

 **You can selectively hear the surface thoughts of those around you.**

 **5 meter range**

 **Psychic Blast**

 **Your huge, throbbing brain is so massive it can deal damage all on it's own!**

 **Learn Ability [Psychic Blast]**

 **[Active Combat] Psychic Blast Lvl. 1**

 **Psychic powers are… weird, but they can be used for some pretty cool stuff. Like murdering shit! Send out a blast of psychic energy to deal damage.**

 **Range: 1-5 meters in a cone in direction user is facing**

 **Casting Time: Instant**

 **Cost: 1,000 RK**

 **Damage: 1,000 + Int**

 **Congratulations!**

 **For bringing your Wisdom stat to 100 or more you have been given the opportunity to choose between a number of Wisdom related perks!**

 **Great Sage**

 **Spells are your weapons and reiryoku is your resource.**

 **Doubles RK regeneration.**

 **Analyzation**

 **You're really good at reading people and that can be a major benefit in battle.**

 **Opponents weaknesses added to Observe**

 **Pure Zen**

 **Every so often monks will achieve the state of being that they seek. You get it for free.**

 **Grants access to the ability [Pure Zen]**

 **[Active Combat] Pure Zen Lvl. 1**

 **In battle achieving zen turns a struggle into a simple chess match.**

 **+20% chance to dodge**

 **1% chance to ignore all damage received from an attack**

 **Cost: 5,000 RK**

 **Duration: 30 seconds**

"What to do, what to do. **Pure Zen** feels obvious even if **Analyzation** looks pretty sweet, but I don't even have the stats to use **Pure Zen**. That's not right game! **Analyzation** it is. And while the Intelligence options seem pretty cool, **Mind Over Matter** is the only option. Alrighty. Ichigo, I'm going to check out what the **Breaker of Chains** title is, come look." The now peppy tomboy instructed.

"Huh? Ok." While the experience gain had been massive, Ichigo only got a single level and he decided to wait on spending the stat points he had gained.

 **Breaker of Chains**

 **While it is not a difficult decision to free mistreated people whether you know them or not, it is not an act that is done on a regular basis. You have also gone above and beyond to assure the safety of those you have freed. That deserves praise and reward beyond measure.**

 **While Equipped: +20 Charisma, rep. gains with slaves and ex-slaves are much easier, slave owners start at -1 reputation**

 **Permanently: All stat gains are slightly easier**

"That's pretty great." Remarked Ichigo. "But anyway, I believe there is something else you've gotta explain game."

 **Conquest Game Mode has been added**

 **In Conquest the goal of the player is to rule over some castle and take care of it. The mode is called conquest because you cannot reign peacefully when your neighbors aren't friendly. War will always be on the horizon, unless you conquer each and every land that threatens you.**

 **Think of this as a resource management simulator where sometime you must battle. At the moment you are the Lord of Felmere which comes with an empty title. The efforts you and Tatsuki made to take care of the ogre females has made it so that the fortress is self-sustaining and will continue to be as such for many years to come. But that does not mean that your work is done.**

 **Eventually, be it today, tomorrow, or next year a traveling caravan will come upon this non-hostile fortress and become curious as to why ogres haven't attacked. Unless you make yourself known the caravan will be rebuffed by the guards and nothing will happen. But then you lose the opportunity to establish trade with the rest of the world and word might spread that there is no point to traveling to Felmere as they are not friendly to outsiders. This will make you weaker when hostile eventually come knocking at your door.**

 **Worry not, whenever something of import happens at one of your owned castles you will receive a notification detailing the situation and giving you a one hour timer by the end of which you must make a decision. This will be as non-intrusive as possible allowing you to live your "normal" life, but eventually you will be unable to deal with a situation hence why your fortress must be strong so they can deal with the consequences without your help.**

 **You can of course play the game without conquering any surrounding lands and only ever dealing with Felmere's problems, but there are astounding benefits to acquiring new keeps that you will be missing out on. Also, if you do a good job taking care of Felmere, it will grow and become famous over time which will lead to more and more neighboring Lords and Kings becoming interested in owning the fortress themselves. Over an over you will be called in to fight until you can't go and Felmere changes hands. Who knows how the new Lord will treat your subjects…**

 **You'll figure things out as you go, have no worries about that.**

 **That is all you needed to know, enjoy playing.**

"Well… that was… a lot more than I anticipated. Jeez, this is some heavy shit Game."

"It did say this new mode won't be too intrusive. Let's just see how things turn out, who knows what you can get out of this." Tatsuki said giving her two cents.

Just as she said that the world finally finished cracking and shattered, but instead of returning them to the street that had been on they appeared in a huge cavern ichigo was familiar with.

"Oh, we're in the Abyss." he said.

"Yup!" giggled Soliania as she skipped toward and empty cave.

Ichigo and Tatsuki watched as mere moments after she entered the cave it glowed bright green. When the light finally died down the cave had been drastically transformed. The floor was now an expanse of beautiful grass that became bouncy moss on the walls. The ceiling held some sort of natural light neither teen were familiar with and it was covered by short vines. There was a desk, but it looked as though it had grown from the ground despite the beautiful and intricate carvings that covered. The chair was the only out of place object since it was an extremely plush and could swivel, but the wood was once again covered in carvings. There were a couple of bookshelves that, once again, looked natural and they were filled to the brim with books.

"This. Is. Perfect!" squealed Soliania who began zipping about the bookshelves reading each and every title. She then took a seat in her new chair, spinning a couple times for good measure, and rifled through her cabinets. Finally she say back with a content look on her face and said. "I'm open for business kiddos. Come, take a seat." When she said that two chairs grew out of the floor in front of the desk.

"Wow Soli, this is amazing." Tatsuki said her voice full of awe.

When the teens sat down Ichigo asked, "So what can you do again?"

"Like I said before I can teach you guys Elf magic and do some charisma training which is a free stat point. I can also do some smaller things like tutor you Eldarin and Ogre, grant a minor blessing that makes charisma skill easier to level up for a while, and teach you about Kalimba and all the nations and people you will come across, but that will probably be while we're in dungeons."

"That's perfect since I guess I'll be involved with it on some level from now on. I got a bunch of books from Krulp's little study…" Ichigo pulled out said books.

Soliania grabbed the books and looked them over. "I'm familiar with a one of these, but I'm guessing the rest came out during my imprisonment. Goodness gracious, I have 200 years of recent history to learn…" just as the words came out of her mouth a few empty bookshelves filled with books. "Oh… I guess the game is helping me with my job. I've got some studying to do then. You two wanted to get home so shoo." She punctuated her statement by grabbing a stack of the new books and opening one of them up.

"Uhh… ok. See you later then Soli."

"See ya Soliania!"

The two teens exited their elf friend's new cave/shop and were about to leave before Ichigo remembered something and began walking toward the blacksmith.

"Oh, yeah! My club should be done by now."

"What?"

"I got a cool bone club as a drop a little while back and left it at the blacksmith here to upgrade."

"Hello there Mr. Kurosaki. Your weapon has been upgraded." The blacksmith then handed over a large object wrapped in simple cloth.

"Sweet! Thanks… blacksmith." Ichigo faltered at not knowing the blacksmith's name despite having only look above his head to learn it. "I mean, thanks Andrew."

"Of course, is there anything else you would like me to upgrade or craft?"

"Well, I got a bunch of cool weapons, but I don't know what it will take to upgrade them."

"If you show them to me I can tell you."

"Obviously, one sec." muttered a slightly embarrassed Ichigo. He then pulled out the Ogre Slayer's Greataxe and his Basic Katana.

Andrew hummed and rubbed his chin. The katana will be simple to upgrade. If you wish to bring it to its full potential I will require 54 pieces of steel ingot and 48,600 yen. If you don't have the steel that is fine, but the price will be raised to 135,000 yen. The axe is another matter entirely. To upgrade to the next level would require four bars of mithril ingot, ten bars of orichalchum, and two bars of gold. It will also cost you 90,000 yen and I can't provide the material. Also, I can finish the katana in a few hours while the axe will take a full day for the single level."

"Ok then. I'll leave the katana, here's the 135. I'll be back if I ever get the materials to upgrade the axe."

"Sounds good sir. The katana will be complete in four hours. Have a good day."

The teens exited the shop and Ichigo said, "Watch this." while pointing toward the blacksmith.

Even while expecting something to happen Tatsuki was still surprised when the steel wall slammed shut over the mouth of the shop.

"Oh… that was different."

"Right? I want to stop by the weapons store so we can sell all the extra armor and weapons we got from the fortress."

The weapon store was easy to find. The cave was cut in half by a large counter behind which stood a grizzled old man with an eyepatch and armor that screamed retired general on his side of the counter the walls were covered in weapons and armor of all shapes and sizes. The counter itself was made of glass and the few shelves it had were filled with knives and pistols, few of which neither Ichigo nor Tatsuki had ever seen before. The store was colored in burnt oranges and reds giving it an even greater militaristic feel.

"Excuse me?" The redhead said, "I have some wares to sell…"

"Of course lad. Show me watcha got an I'll give ya a good estimate." The, assumedly, war veteran answered in an unexpected Scottish brogue.

"Awesome. First I have…. thirty-four of these clubs." Ichigo pulled out the simple wooden club the Ogre Heavies had dropped.

"Thirty-four you say?" Manick Law, which was the name floating above his head, asked as he gave the club a once over. "I can give you 37,400 yen for the lot of 'em."

Ichigo shrugged, it had taken almost no effort on neither his nor Tatsuki's part to acquire the weapons, it seemed like a fair trade. "Sounds great. Is there somewhere I should put them?"

Manick put an empty crate on the counter. "Put 'em in here. It's bottomless."

"Cool." Ichigo did as he was asked while Tatsuki began to wander around the Abyss and look at the other shops. " I also have eighty-five sickles."

"I can give ya' 327,250 yen."

"I also have sixty of these lab coats if you want to take them."

"Hmm, they do give a stat bonus so I'll take them. 132,000." 

"Great, I have fifteen of these greatswords."

"82,500."

"And finally I have ten of these barbarian armors." He kept two for himself for… reasons.

"44,000. Before you go can I offer ya' some weapons or armor of my own?"

Ichigo was hesitant, but he realized some sort of fist weapon for Tatsuki would be great. "Sure why not. Do you have any weapons that go on your fist?"

"Like knuckle dusters? Sure. I assume you've got a bit of cash to spend so why don't I show you some of the best stuff I got right now."

Manick disappeared into a door Ichigo had somehow missed and came out a few minutes later with his hands full. He then laid the weapons out on the counter and picked up what looked like a simple pair of brass knuckles.

"These little guys right here are enchanted with some powerful magic, they're also the cheapest thing I brought with me."

Ichigo used **observe**.

 **Enchanted Brass Knuckles Lvl. 1/10**

 **Description: A pair of finely crafted brass knuckles that fell into the hands of a battlemage that grew quite fond of them. He enchanted them to make better use of his skills.**

 **Requirements: 10 Str, 10 Dex, 10 Int, 10 Wis**

 **Damage: 10 + Str + Dex Blunt, Physical; 10 + Int + Wis Blunt, Magic**

 **Special Effect: Scales with Int and Wis**

"These are pretty nice, but I'd like to see what else you've got."

"Fine by me." Manick picked up what looked like a steel boxing glove covered with two inch long spikes. "This beauty right here, and its twin, come from a craftsmen in the far off continent of Grihandul. They can make a serious mess out of a face."

 **Great Gloves of Bleeding Lvl. 1/15**

 **Description: Olikar of Tunish is a renowned weaponsmith on the continent of Grihandul. Many warriors will come from across Kalimba to request a weapon made by the man.**

 **Requirements: 20 Str, 10 Dex**

 **Damage: 20 + 1.5*Str + Dex Blunt, Piercing**

 **Special Effects: 20% chance to make targets bleed**

 **25% chance to cripple targets**

"This is pretty great too, but show me these last two."

"Of course." Law held up another set of knuckles, but these had three foot long blades on them. "These beauties I got off of a wandering monk, called himself Charles or something. They're pretty wicked and from what I can tell the blades are made of some sort of mithril alloy, but I don't know what the other metals are."

 **Adamantine Knuckles Lvl. 1/50**

 **Description: Wolverine**

 **Requirements: 20 Str, 50 Dex**

 **Damage: 50 + 3*Dex + Str Slashing or Piercing**

 **Special Effect: 5% Damage reduction**

 **50% chance to make target bleed**

"…Oh."

"Pretty nice eh? This last one," He held up a pair of black gauntlets. "Extracts a price in exchange for great power."

 **Gauntlets of Liagnur the Fallen King Lvl. Max**

 **Description: ?**

 **Requirements: 100 Str, 100 Dex, 100 Vit, 100 HP per second**

 **Damage: 1000 + 10*Str + 10*Dex**

 **Special Effects: Chance to curse enemy**

"Fuck. That's really cool."

Manick raised an eyebrow at that statement. "Well lad, what'll it be?"

"I'll take everything."

"Ok then, I'll give ya the gauntlets for free because to be quite honest I want them out of my shop. They're evil. The rest will cost ya' 1,350,000 yen."

"Oof, ok." They exchanged their goods and Ichigo quickly put his new weapons in his inventory. "Thank you very much sir."

"No problem lad, come again sometime. I get new inventory every week."

With a nod Ichigo left to find his wayward companion.

Tatsuki had quickly peeked at every shop, but none truly caught her interest until she came to the bank. The setup was similar to the weapon shop in that a large counter divided the space. There were also bars in place to prevent break-ins which Tatsuki found rather out of place. Behind the counter on the far wall was a large vault door that one would expect to find in a spy thriller. The banker was an extremely short man with a long curled mustache who was wearing an extremely expensive looking green suit that went oddly with the golden decor of the shop. He even had a monocle!

"Excuse me Mr. Grimaldi?"

The short banker perked up and climbed up on a leather seat which put him at the small window in the bars.

"Yes madam how may I help you?" He asked in a slight french accent.

"You see, Ichigo and I… Ichigo? We?" Tatsuki shook her head. "The Gamer recently opened a bank account in Dorralei and I was wondering whether or not you provided access to it from here."

"Actually we do. Any and all bank accounts opened by the Gamer be they in Kalimba, Soul Society, or Earth can be easily accessed from here. He can even transfer money between the accounts with the customary 5% fee is he is changing currencies."

"That's awfully convenient, do you offer any other services?"

"Actually we do. We can also invest the money left here by the Gamer. Earth is the easiest place to do this as it has well established stock markets, but it is doable in Soul Society and Kalimba, just more complicated."

"So can I start that or what?"

"For simplicity's sake invited players cannot open their own accounts, but they can manage the Gamer's account with their permission."

Ichigo had just found her and said, "Of course she has my permission."

"Understood sir."

"Aww, thank you Ichi." Tatsuki thanked mockingly.

"Any time. But what exactly are we doing?"

"Figuring out how to invest your money."

"Oh… ok."

"So the only account Ichigo has is in Dorralei, does that mean he can only invest there?"

"Yes it does. Luckily their society is a bit more advanced than the rest of Kalimba and as such, while there isn't an actual stock market, investment systems have been in place for a long time. Also Dorralei is a pretty stagnant market so it's easy to make good investments even if they will not have high rewards."

Ichigo spoke up, "So what's the best we can do?"

"I can say with confidence that we can set it up so that you have a consistent 1% yearly growth."

"And that's good?" the punk asked.

"Yes sir it most definitely is. Your servants and guards will only cost you 468 gold per year and the projected growth will earn you 371 gold and 80 silver which obviously won't completely cover your expenses, but it will make your conquering venture much easier. Do not worry, in a few years I expect the fortress to generate its own economy so you will not experience losses for long. Of course it is a good idea to begin setting up accounts on earth so we can begin to invest there.

"Wow, that sounds like a great idea. After some grinding I guess we can set something up, right Tatsuki? But, you said the fortress will begin to generate its economy soon, but you also said it would take a few years, what does that mean?"

"Oh! My apologies. You may have noticed that time traveled extremely slowly in Kalimba as opposed to Earth. The exact difference is that one day in Kalimba is one minute on Earth. Going along that logic once year in Kalimba is only six hours on Earth, luckily it doesn't work like that. One month on earth is a year in Kalimba. That does make it so that investments on Earth don't reap their rewards for Kalimba, but like I said, you won't have to worry about your money on Kalimba."

"Weird that time isn't the same conversion, but I guess that's what the game meant when it said the conquering mode won't be too intrusive. If a year in Kalimba was a six hours here I'd be absurdly busy."

"Makes sense. So I guess we're done here?" she asked.

"Yes, there is nothing more I can do for you. Have a pleasant evening." Grimaldi punctuated his statement by closing the small window he had been at and leaving toward the vault.

"Alright then. Ready to go home Tatsuki?"

"Oh sweet Kami yes. This adventure has tired me out. I think I'll sleep through tomorrow."

"Ha, I would if I could. **ID Escape**."

Thus the world shattered once again.

~GB~

 **AN: Fuck me. This took forever. Sorry again for the late update, beginning Might and Magic absolutely captivated me and I ended up having several doctor's appointments over the last week.**

 **I know it didn't come up in the story, but this is what the club is like now.**

 **Hollow Bone Club Lvl. Max**

 **Description: The femur of a large hollow, repurposed as a primitive weapon. Despite its simplicity this club boasts pretty impressive damage.**

 **Requirements: 40 Str, 10 Dex**

 **Damage: 500 + 5*Str + 2*Dex**

 **Special Effects: 50% to cripple an enemy upon successful strike**

 **+20% damage against Shinigami**

 **Ichigo will check it out next chapter for sure, it also looks a bit different.**

 **Please leave a thoughtful review**

 **Thx ;)**


	15. Relationships what are they?

**AN: In a concerted effort to not fall behind like I did this past week I'm starting this chapter immediately after posting fourteen.**

 **I hope what's coming up makes sense. Please tell me if it feels off.**

 **Sorry I'm late! Enjoy the chapter!**

~GB~

Chapter 14 Summary: A short time skip to the day after the trio arrived in Dorralei found them at a grand feast to celebrate Soliania's return. The day after Ichigo and company returned to Felmere Fortress with the forty ogre females, 30 elven servants, and ten elven guards. It took a little while to get everyone settled, but once they did Ichigo and Tatsuki prepared to leave Kalimba. Surprising nobody, I think, Soliania appeared and informed them that she had been let in on the game. The surprise was superseded by the Game's when it told Ichigo of the new game mode, Conquest, which will eventually allow Ichigo to become the supreme ruler of everything. The trio then went to the Abyss where Soliania set up her shop and home from then on. The teens looked checked out some shops, Ichigo got his club back and sold all the extra loot they got from the fortress and got Tatsuki new weapons. Then they learned about investment banking and headed home.

~GB~

Chapter 15: Relationships... what are they?

Sunday was decreed a day off by both Ichigo and Tatsuki who were relieved the other did not want to do anything either. They did however spend their Sunday together. After spending four days straight in close proximity and gaining new understanding of each other's attractive qualities the prospect of not hanging out together seemed odd.

Tatsuki quite easily knew why, she was attracted to Ichigo, and beyond that she actually _liked_ the strawberry. Before the game she thought Ichigo was just a very rough around the edges teenage punk, very different from the child she knew, but since learning about it and having to be closer to him than she had in years Tatsuki had been put face to face with his more attractive qualities. She knew they had been there, after all it had always been a point of pride that she knew Ichigo better than anyone, but they seemed so much more important now. Also, there was no contending the fact that she knew Ichigo best now which made her feel unreasonably happy.

The question now was what to do. Ichigo was obviously attracted to her if his badly hidden blushes at her barbarian outfit and feast dress were anything to go by, but she knew he probably was not going to do anything about it. What was she going to do about it? Tatsuki had ever asked anyone to be her boyfriend before. What would she say? "C'mon Ichigo, just fuck me." sounded all kinds of wrong in her head, and she wasn't planning on losing her virginity any time soon. But it felt equally as odd to simply ask him out on an official date since she knew him so well. How would a date be any different than what they normally did? Could she just kiss him and see how he took it? That also felt weird.

At the very end of their day lazing about her house, Ichigo didn't want to deal with his dad and Ru-chan was having a great time with Yuzu and Karin so he didn't feel bad about leaving her behind, Tatsuki finally mustered the courage to put her thoughts into words and actions. At the moment the two were on the couch watching X-men which had come out the year before. It was rather entertaining for the two to learn about the nature of one of the weapons Ichigo had bought for Tatsuki. An added side effect of watching english television, with subtitles of course, was that their English skill was leveling up quite nicely. The movie ended and Ichigo moved to get up and stretch and it was then that Tatsuki made her move.

"Hey Ichi?"

"Whassup?"

"Hmm." She squirmed a little and her face began to heat up. "You wanna go on a date?"

Ichigo abruptly stopped moving. "Uhh… like a boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Tatsuki's face got just a pinch redder, "…Yeah."

Ichigo collapsed against the sofa and began blushing as well. "Good, I'd been meaning to ask you something like that. I uhh… I couldn't quite find the right words… or the courage."

Tatsuki smiled. "Good to know. It's almost dinner and mom is going to spend the evening with her friends so we have to feed ourselves. Wanna have a dinner date right now?"

Ichigo turned to look at the stunning work of art that was his childhood friend. "You're awfully nonchalant about all of this."

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow. "So are you." she shot back.

"Yeah, but I have a good excuse, Gamer's Mind perk. I think the happiness I'm feeling overloaded and I'm stuck at just vaguely content. So what's your excuse?"

"I don't really have one. I guess the fact that you said yes and the fact that we're a couple hasn't quite settled in yet. I'm happy, but I also feel sick. Like I ate an entire cake on my own in a minute. But I'm happy. Really happy. I'm sure I'll freak out later."

"Huh… me too. So, any idea where you wanna go?"

"You know that famous steakhouse over in the Mitsumiya district?"

"Uhh… Meat Palace or something like that?"

"Yeah that one. Think you can get us in on short notice?"

"Maybe. Why don't you get all fancy and I'll run over and see what I can do."

"Run? Never mind of course you can run that. You don't have to rush since it'll take me a minute to get ready."

"That's fine. See you in a little bit." Pulling a move he didn't know he had the guts to do Ichigo pecked Tatsuki on the cheek and left before she could say anything.

The girl in question stood there shocked, but shock eventually became overwhelming giddiness as she began to giggle and laugh uncontrollably for several minutes.

"Huh…" she said to herself once she had collected herself enough to say actual human words, "I've got a boyfriend."

~GB~

Ichigo had a similar experience as he ran to Meat Palace forcing him to stop and get all of his laughter out. He had a girlfriend! And of all the people on the planet it was his estranged friend Tatsuki. He had never given romance much of a thought, after all, he was only fifteen and girls were not very interesting at the moment. Dating and romance were far off concepts he never gave a thought unless it came up in a movie he was watching. Before Tatsuki had said anything he struggled with what to call what he felt for her. They were more than friends, hell, more than best friends, but family felt wrong and for some reason romance still was not on his mind. Thank Kami for women.

Eventually he made it to meat Palace where he discovered they were rather packed on that Sunday evening. Ichigo walked up to the hostess, a rather beautiful woman, and began asking questions.

"Is there any seating available?" He asked trying to put the charisma to work. He massively outclassed everyone he had seen even this Shizue Morinaga who had an impressive charisma stat of twenty-five, a mere quarter of his own.

The girl seemed flustered at his mere presence despite his simple attire of sweatpants and a t-shirt. "I-I'm sorry sir. We're all booked up. But we have space available tomorrow at-"

Ichigo interrupted her, "I am so sorry to hear that, I had really been hoping to eat here. I guess I'll head home, after all, today is the only day I could come…"

"W-wait!" The hostess practically yelled. "Let me get the manager. Maybe he can figure something out for you." she then hurried off.

'Dammit. He? Unless he's gay this charisma stat won't be doing too much. But… if bullshit walks… money can always talk for me instead.'

A rather disgruntled man in a suit walked out a few minutes later. "Shizue thinks you need a place to sit here. Why?"

'Damn. Right to it eh?' Ichigo pulled out several bills totaling to 100,000. "Is 100,000 yen enough of a reason?"

The manager's eyes bugged out for a moment, but he quickly recollected himself. "Maybe it is. Come back in about half an hour, there should be a table ready for you. And you better be wearing a suit"

"That sounds wonderful sir," Ichigo said as he handed over the cash. "And thank you Shizue." He winked at the woman, making her to swoon, and left.

It had only been ten or so minutes since he left, so he wasn't rushing back to Tatsuki's house, but then he realized he didn't have a proper suit to wear beside the one he had gotten in Dorralei. So he rushed over to the shopping district and fortunately found a still open tailor. A rather… energetic man quickly walked up to Ichigo and began giving the typical sales pitch.

"Well hello there and welcome to Ryusaki Tailors the premier location to get the highest quality suits. I assume you are here to purchase?"

Ichigo nodded in response and the man, named Fujimaro Ono, blazed on.

"Wonderful! Is there any kind of suit in particular you are interested in today?"

"Uhh… no? Wait, I'm going to dinner-"

"Ok, we'll check out a simple black suit with a slim fit. You seemed hurried, is this suit for tonight?"

"Yes."

"That limits us a bit, but I'm sure I can find something for you. Come this way!"

Fujimaro led Ichigo to a room in the back with mirrors on every wall and a small platform in the middle.

"Step up there and I'll begin taking your measurements. Hmm… if you aren't too uncomfortable I'll ask you to remove those baggy sweatpants."

Ichigo shrugged, he wasn't a shy guy, at least, when he's around other men. He didn't notice Fujimaro's pants tighten when he was left in only his boxer briefs and shirt.

"Have you ever considered modeling good sir?" Fujimaro asked as he began to repeatedly measure Ichigo's inseam and outseam, for accuracy of course.

"Hmm, nah. I make money just fine right now. A real job would only take up time you know? Besides, I'm only fifteen."

That caused Fujimaro to stumble and his pant to become much less tight.

"Fifteen? Huh, who would have thought?" He then began to take the rest of Ichigo's measurements quite quickly and efficiently.

"Ok, I've got everything I need. It won't be a perfect fit since you don't have the time, but I should be able to find something suitable. Is there a certain amount you wish to spend?"

"Money is no object." Ichigo answered confidently.

"Really? I'll be back as soon as possible."

Just as promised he returned within a few minutes with a shirt, vest, jacket, and pants in hand.

"Just so you know, the vest and shirt are large, though I might have to get an extra large with a very slim fit. The jacket is a 46 regular and the pant are 82 cm. Try them on and tell me how they fit." Fujimaro then exited the room.

Ichigo did as he was instructed and marveled at how comfortable everything was. "Alright, I'm dressed."

"Hmm." Fujimaro scrutinized Ichigo for a few minutes before saying, "This fits surprisingly well. Now I must ask, do you have shoes to wear?"

"Uhh, no."

"Ok then. Lift your foot."

Ichigo once again followed the tailor's instructions who proceeded to measure his foot with a weird ruler.

"Alright, I'll be back with a tie, belt, socks, cufflinks, and a decorative napkin. One moment."

"A decorative napkin? Really?" But the question was heard by no one.

Ichigo spent ten more minutes in the store putting on shoes and other items. He had to learn how to gold his decorative napkin, tie his tie, and even how many buttons he was supposed to use at any given time. What the hell do buttons matter?

At the cash register Fujimaro laid down the massive price. "That will be 500,000 yen."

"Ok." Ichigo said handed over the cash.

"Uhm, well, have a fine evening sir. And take this suit bag with you."

"Thanks a lot, I might come back here some time."

"Please do."

As Ichigo exited the store he realized he only had ten minutes to get back to Tatsuki and go to dinner. Luckily **fast equip** had gotten enough levels that he didn't embarrass himself in the alley he had slipped into to change. He was at Tatsuki's door two minutes later.

"Hey! You ready?" he asked.

"Yup, gimme one second." was Tatsuki's slightly muffled response.

Less than a minute later Ichigo had to pick his jaw up off the ground.

Tatsuki's sudden, if small, growth spurt had made the two dresses she had rather… tight. Luckily for Ichigo, she didn't give a damn. She was currently wearing a sexy red gown her mother had gotten her on a whim. "Just in case my baby has to go to a fancy party." she had said. It didn't show off too much, but Tatsuki was filling it out quite well and Ichigo couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

Tatsuki smirked at his reaction. "Well that's good to know. Did you get us a reservation?"

"I uhh… I-I… uhh. I did… You look… _really_ good."

She blushed at the praise, the way Ichigo said "really" sent shivers up her spine. "Thank you, well. Are you ready? And can you at least wear a shirt and tie?"

"Oh! I actually bought a suit. Gimme a second." he ducked into the living room out of Tatsuki's sight and less than a minute later he came back fully dressed.

He looked good, but the suit he wore in Dorralei was sexier. "You look good Ichi. Let's go."

"Actually…" Ichigo scooped up the prettied up tomboy in his arms in a princess carry. "We're in a bit of a rush so…"

Without further explanation Ichigo closed the door and began jumping across rooftops.

"Ichigo! What the hell?" screamed Tatsuki.

"What? Running would mess up this new suit nobody ever looks up."

"Ugh! Whatever." Simply accepting the situation Tatsuki chose to curl up and closely as she could to Ichigo and bury her face in his neck. Luckily she refused to wear make-up.

Unluckily the action gave Ichigo a serious boner.

~GB~

The couple arrived with only a minute to spare and were greeted quite kindly by the manager.

"You two look wonderful! Please, follow me this way."

He proceeded to lead the teens to the back and into a private room.

"Have a seat and relax. One of my staff will be with you shortly." With one last smile he was gone.

"I didn't expect all this." muttered Tatsuki.

Ichigo chuckled in embarrassment. "Well… I may have paid him off for a seat."

"Really Ichigo? We could have gone somewhere else."

"Don't say that! You really wanted to come here!"

"You're right, I did. Thank you." She punctuated her statement by leaning over the table and giving him a soft kiss.

Ichigo giggled. "You're welcome."

Dinner was magnificent. The couple ordered almost everything on the menu and enjoyed every single bite giving further validity to Ichigo's choice on eating there in spite of the lack of seating. Both teens had worried that conversing normally would be difficult, but it wasn't. There was a lot they had gone through in the last six years that the other had not known about due to their lack of closeness. The realization saddened them, Ichigo more because he knew it was his fault, but it also made them more committed to getting close again. They also chose to walk home and enjoy the October night. It was then that the conversation turned to the most obvious topic of all, the game.

"So… what's up with the game?" prompted Tatsuki.

"What… what do you mean?"

"Well, it came out of nowhere right? And so far we're just playing and going along with things. I know you only got it… a week ago? But why do you think out of everyone on the planet you're the gamer?"

"I've been thinking about that to be honest and I can't help but feel it has something to do with the main quest."

"The main quest? What main quest?"

"The one with my dad, remember? Here, I'll pull it up."

 **The Mystery of the Bum-ass Father**

 **Isshin Kurosaki is clearly much more than meets the eye. What's the deal with his title? Why is his level so absurdly high? If he's so capable why has he acted the way he has all these years since your mom died? Why are his absurdly high stats being slashed? The answers will change your life forever.**

 **Ok… so he's a shinigami probably and his slashed stats are probably due to his time in a human body. Now what?**

 **Objectives: Learn the secrets of Isshin Kurosaki**

 **Bonus Objectives: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?**

 **Rewards: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?**

 **Bonus Rewards: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?**

 **Quest Failure: Ignorance of your true self, Death to you and all those you know and love**

"Oh… that second part is new. Nice to know it updates."

"Geez Ichi, that's a lot of question marks… and this is some heavy shit."

"I know, it sucks. I just know I'm going to miss some stuff, but oh well. And yeah, but I don't think the game is out to get me so I don't think a single misstep will mean failure. I'm just going with the flow to be honest and after our adventure in Felmere and Dorralei I'm fine with just relaxing for a while."

"That sounds really good. Four days in a fantasy world… who'd've thought."

"Yeah… Unfortunately a lot of this stuff seems out of our hands. The game just throws us into dungeons without permission, hopefully that slows down."

 **Alert!**

 **You have entered a field dungeon.**

 **HA! You should've seen your faces.**

 **Congratulations!**

 **Spiritual Awareness has reached the maximum level!**

 **[Active/Passive Utility] Spiritual Awareness Lvl. MAX**

 **Reishi, Reiatsu, and Reiryoku. Those are all real words that describe real similar things. With spiritual sensing you will be able to differentiate and understand these three forms of the same thing. It is also vital to your awareness when fighting spiritual beings such as hollows and shinigami. This ability is both passive and active because you will always be able to passively sense the reishi that makes up the world around you, but to be aware of the reiatsu of others the ability will need to be actively used. It is also capable of determining a person's personality to a certain extent.**

 **RK Cost: 1 RK per minute per meter away from the user**

 **Added Effect: Can now tell the emotional state of those within range**

 **Added Effect: You can now easily distinguish all types of reiatsu**

 **Added Effect: No more mental backlash/overload**

 **Pick a Mutation!**

 **When an ability reaches level 100, or whatever the maximum level is, a mutation can be learned. Unless the ability is part of a progression tree like most martial arts. Mutations add special effects that can greatly change the use of the ability.**

 **One with Reishi: When Spiritual Awareness is being used the player can hide their own signature by blending it with the ambient reishi. Basically you become invisible to the spiritually aware.**

 **Teleportation: When searching for a specific spiritual signature the user can choose to teleport to the signature's location as long as it is within the range of spiritual awareness. Can only be used once per day.**

 **Free!: Spiritual Awareness no longer has a cost.**

"That's some pretty cool stuff Ichi."

"I know, this game can be pretty awesome. **Spiritual Awareness** having no cost seems cool, but it costs almost nothing to me anyway so why bother. **One with Reishi** seems pretty awesome, but I'd rather any threats come directly to me and I'm not a stealth guy which is what that is probably for. **Teleportation** is a pretty easy choice especially if we ever get seperated or I need to save someone from something."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Yup." Ichigo exhaled and relaxed against the bench he and Tatsuki had sat on prompting said girl to lean into him. "But going back to what I was originally saying, I think the game is here to help. These Hollows and Shinigami were very real before I started "playing" and I have a sneaking suspicion I would have been involved with them anyway. Either way, right now I just want to relax."

Tatsuki smiled, "I can get behind that."

~GB~

So they did. For the entire week Tatsuki and Ichigo did not enter a dungeon by choice or randomly. They hit the gym, but only for a little bit as the two were more interested in finding out what it meant to in a relationship with each other than anything else.

The first hiccup to their plans was Ishida's Quincy training. Ichigo knew that if he progressed quickly as he had before his week would become less and less relaxing, so he went slowly. As such, most of the week was spent with Ishida teaching Ichigo how to shoot with a bow and arrow. A nice skill, but one Ichigo didn't see himself using all too much unless his Quincy abilities were super strong.

Wednesday was the second hiccup, though the tournament was as laughably easy as the couple had anticipated it would be. The only highlight was the rewards Ichigo for for completing the quest.

 **Quest**

 **Baseball Field Tournament!: Tatsuki needs your help! Someone has been sabotaging her club and now only the dregs and slackers will be able to attend. At this rate her club is sure to lose and your attendance might just sway things to her favor.**

 **Objectives: Attend the Tournament, Win a fight**

 **Bonus Objectives: Bring Extra Help, Win Several Fights, Win the Tournament**

 **Rewards: Mildly Increased Rep. with Tatsuki Arisawa**

 **Bonus Rewards: Greatly Increased Rep. with Tatsuki Arisawa, Skill Book: Judo, Skill Book: Krav Maga, Skill Book: Muay Thai**

 **Quest Failure: 100 Exp., Severely Reduced Rep. with Tatsuki Arisawa**

As the couple returned to Tatsuki's house to hang out, Ichigo continued to refuse to bring her to his house on account of his annoying father, the redhead couldn't help but laugh.

"Ooh, look Ta-chan, my reputation with you has increased."

Tatsuki rolled her eyes, "Oh yeah, like that means anything now."

"Right? But I kinda want to see what it says now. Relationships Page."

Just as he commanded a screen holding the page he wanted appeared before him. It took some searching, but eventually he figured out where Tatsuki was and neither teen were prepared for what he discovered.

"Romantic relationships? As in plural?" Ichigo asked aloud.

Tatsuki was obviously at a max reputation level, the big difference was her new location and the fact that the relationship bar was pink instead of blue like everyone else.

Tatsuki grabbed Ichigo's ear and pinched it, "I don't care what the game is implying, you will not have more than one girlfriend, that girlfriend being me."

"Hey! Cut it out! Why would I even bother with something like that? Besides, your food cravings have nearly run me out of cash I don't think I can handle another person much less if they're anything like you!" He joked.

"Hmph, damn straight. Now, watching that tournament reminded me that I haven't had much practice lately, let's spar in my dojo until dinner."

"Sounds good to me. Actually wait a second. We've got these martial arts scrolls, and I got a couple in the dungeon. Wanna try them out?"

Tatsuki tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Sure. I'm extremely curious about the one you got in the dungeon."

"Sweet. Also, for the sake of not spreading my own skill sets too thin, I want you learn all the physical combat stuff we get, especially since you get that gnarly hand to hand combat bonus from your title."

"Ok."

Ichigo passed over all four martial art skill books he had.

"Huh, none of these have any requirements." Tatsuki remarked as she learned all of the skills and the books dissipated.

"Uhh, probably should have done that inside."

She quickly glanced around to see if anyone was gawking at them. "Bah, it's fine. Now get inside so I can try these bad boys out."

The following couple of hours was spent sparring as the couple had decided. By the end of their session Ichigo had maxed out his **advanced karate** and Tatsuki had broken level fifty on all four of her beginner martial arts.

In the interest of helping out Tatsuki as much as possible, Ichigo decided they would spend as much time as possible trying to max out her other martial art abilities. As such by Friday evening Tatsuki had brought them all up to the sixties on the intermediate level where they finally began to show off their individualities.

 **[Passive Combat] Intermediate Boxing Lvl: 69/100**

 **You're alright at boxing. You can easily win several matches, but ultimately you're in the middle of everyone skill-wise. With more practice you will become a master.**

 **+69% damage while using hand-to-hand**

 **+6% chance to daze your enemy with a headshot**

 **[Passive Combat] Intermediate Traditional Ogre Combat Lvl. 60/100**

 **Ogre combat is an extremely aggressive style that emphasizes power over defense. You're pretty good at it, but you're no warchief yet.**

 **+120% damage when using hand-to-hand**

 **+6% chance to receive double damage**

 **[Passive Combat] Intermediate Judo Lvl. 63/100**

 **One of the older modern martial arts judo emphasizes grapples and throws as opposed to strikes. You're not winning any medals, but a street thug should fear you.**

 **+63% to grapple opponents (strength check)**

 **Grappled opponents cannot dodge… obviously**

 **[Passive Combat] Intermediate Krav Maga Lvl. 64/100**

 **This Israeli martial art emphasizes real world applicability and simultaneously attacking and defending. In a tournament situation you'll probably make it to the quarter finals.**

 **+64% damage when using hand-to-hand**

 **+6% chance to either take double damage or half damage**

 **[Passive Combat] Intermediate Muay Thai Lvl. 67/100**

 **The art of eight limbs is not an easy one to learn and you've done an admirable job so far though there is much more to discover.**

 **+67% damage when using hand-to-hand**

 **+6% chance to break an opponent's bones**

"I don't know Ta-chan, I'm beginning to get jealous."

Toweling off the small amount of sweat 'thanks game' Tatsuki replied, "They're all really cool, but I can't use more than one at the same time. At best I can switch between styles extremely quickly in order to confuse opponents. Ultimately **advanced karate** will be my best for a while."

"Makes sense." Ichigo answered as the couple entered the living room running into Hisae.

"Oh? What are you two lovebirds doing all sweaty?" the Arisawa matriarch asked conspiratorially.

Tatsuki balked at the question, "Wha-What are you saying? Me and Ichigo just started going out!"

Hisae sighed longingly, "Oh to be young and in love again. I remember those high school years with your father. Gosh we were sneaking away to make out every second we could find."

"MOM! Please!" yelled Tatsuki, her blush beginning to reach her neck. Mostly because a solid amount of her and ichigo's training involved making out.

Hisae laughed. "I'm just teasing. You kids hungry? I know you can pack a whole horse away Ichigo."

The couple had brought Hisae along on one of their lunch dates and now she had to live with the fact that Ichigo and her daughter could eat enough food to feed a small civilization in a single meal.

"Ha! Yeah. I can eat." Ichigo was much less embarrassed about the situation, after all, he had quickly come to love having Tatsuki as a girlfriend. Turns out her fiery personality came with make out benefits.

Tatsuki finally relaxed enough to answer, "I guess."

"Perfect! I made sukiyaki and didn't want to keep any for leftovers."

"Sukiyaki? Tatsuki! That's what we haven't gone out for!" With their abundant resources and new penchant for eating out the couple had begun to try and figure out what meals they hadn't gone out and tried.

"Oh yeah. Huh/ I don't know if there is a good place for that anywhere nearby…"

"Damn, too bad I can't get a license right now. I guess we can take a train somewhere. Oh-" Ichigo suddenly stopped talking mid sentence.

"Something wrong Ichi?"

"Yeah… I think I just felt some hollows. Near school actually."

That got Tatsuki moving. "What! C'mon then we gotta go!" she frantically shouted.

"Ok, ok. Relax for a second please? It's a super weak presence and now's a good time to try out our armor and weapons so let's put that on."

"Armor?"

"Oh yeah, I got a sweet armor from that The Boss fight, but it's female only. I also got Krulp's armor."

"Really? Let me see! Mom! We gotta go, I think we'll be back in time for food, but please don't wait up ok?"

"That's fine! Just be safe ok kids? It's late." Came Hisae's reply from the kitchen.

"Yes mom!" Tatsuki answered as she ran to her room in order to change into her new armor.

Ichigo took a quick glance around and pushed his fast equip to the max as he got into Krulp's heavy armor. Curious of the armor's impact on his stats Ichigo pulled them up.

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 95**

 **HP: 18,960/18,960**

 **RK: 114,800/114,800**

 **Stats: 35**

 **Str: (527 +)*2 = 1,054**

 **Vit: (237 +)*2 = 474**

 **Dex: (196 +)*½ = 98**

 **Int: 100 +**

 **Wis: 100 +**

 **Luck: 105 +**

 **Charm: (100 +)*2 = 200**

 **XP: 260,568,349/283,114,980**

"Huh… I almost forgot the gym gives you experience… and HOLY FUCK my stats. All that and a 25% damage reduction? Damn, I'll never die… though I am a bit slow now. Oh well, **Limit Break** will fix that and with my health being so high I'll actually heal over time. Oh and I better put **Apprentice Hollow Slayer** on."

Tatsuki had come downstairs and seen Ichigo's stats just as he finished talking to himself.

"What the hell… all I get is damage reductions and a damage boost against hollows, though I guess that works for right now, but you basically get the same thing!"

"Too bad so sad try not to die. Now come on, that presence is getting stronger. **Limit Break**."

Within a three minutes the couple had made their way to the presence's location which ended up being in their school's courtyard.

"Ichigo! I can see a big rip in the sky! And what the fuck is coming out of it?"

"So you can see things clearly now?" he asked barely acknowledging the emerging hollow's presence. "She couldn't before… is it me who's causing this?" he whispered to himself. Then he spoke up again. "Come on Ta-chan! Use observe."

"Oh… duh." She replied embarrassed she had forgotten. She had even taken time to level it up on her own so that it was on par with Ichigo's. " **Observe**."

 **Title: NA**

 **Name: Stellar Smash**

 **Race: Hollow**

 **Level: 55**

 **HP: 1,600/1,600**

 **RK: 1,800/1,800**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 80**

 **Vit: 80**

 **Dex: 80**

 **Int: 15**

 **Wis: 10**

 **Luck: 10**

 **Charm: 0**

 **XP: 675,902/1,228,200**

 **Summary: Stellar Smash is an often bullied hollow due to her rather silly name. As such she has gone out of her way to prove herself in the forest. This is her first time back in the human world so she has no bounty. She was a prostitute in life.**

 **Bounty: 0 yen**

 **Drops: Souls, Hollow Mask Fragments**

 **Bonuses**

 **NA**

 **Weaknesses**

 **NA**

"Huh… it's a girl Ichi."

"Really?" Ichigo took a good look at the hollow that was now falling to the earth in front of them. Nothing in particular looked effeminate on the hollow's body, especially since her arms were gigantic slabs of meat that looked more like elephant legs. "Guess you can never judge a book by it's cover. Anyway, she's pretty weak why don't you take care of her?"

Tatsuki smirked and pounded her fists together before trying to equip one of her new weapons. "Dammit Ichigo! I can't wear my new stuff with my armor!" She tried again, this time she forced the enchanted brass knuckled over her gloved hands. "Never mind, these barely fit."

She turned to the hollow who was already running towards them. "Pfft, too slow."

With speed that clearly befuddled Stellar Smash, Tatsuki ducked under her torso and delivered a life changing punch to the hollow's stomach, or at least what looked like a stomach.

 **6,507 Damage!**

 **She dead.**

"Oh."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Welp, I feel pretty damn strong right now." Just as Tatsuki finished her sentence Stellar Smash dissolved, but instead of entering Ichigo, it entered her.

Ichigo witnessed this and said, "Nope. New rule, you can't fight hollows."

"What? Why? Just cuz some dust entered me? I got a few souls, maybe I'll need 'em."

Ichigo sighed and rubbed his temples, "Because Tatsuki," He took a second to affirm his suspicion and put all his **spiritual awareness** attention onto her. "Those didn't just give you a currency. Right now you will a little bit more hollow than you did before."

That gave Tatsuki pause. "...What? Are you serious…" Her eyes were wide with fear and concern. "But-But what about you Ichi? Haven't you killed a bunch of these guys?"

Ichigo's face was deathly serious, "Yeah. I have."

Silence reigned as the couple tried to figure out what all this meant. Unfortunately they could not rest for long because Ichigo began to feel more Hollow presences around the town.

"Oh shit. Tatsuki… there's a bunch of hollows now."

Tatsuki locked eyes with him.

"And… they're really spread out."

She didn't say anything.

"I… you're going to have to fight some of them. This is real life and we can't risk real lives."

"I know."

"Dammit Tatsuki! Who knows what this means! Or what it'll do to you! I'm not a normal human, but you are!"

Tatsuki smirked. "Hey, it's fine. Whatever happens, we'll figure it out. Now, I can't sense these guys so…"

"You should be able to see the rips in the sky easily enough. Just… if you start feeling weird stop moving and I'll teleport to you, ok?"

"Jeez what a worrywart. I'll head… left I guess and-"

"Wait… some of them are dying… it feels like… Ishida?"

"That glasses guy? You did say he was a Quincy or something. Is that so surprising?"

"Not really I guess… but someone else is taking out the hollows. And they're going it quickly."

"That's great, but unless they got all of them we need to get moving."

"Ok, ok! Uhm… take out the ones around the school and then start heading home. That should be a good path to avoid everyone else. I'd rather not deal with the headache that will be explaining you to Ishida or figuring out who these new people are."

"Sounds good to me. Just… make sure no innocent people end up dying."

"Right back at ya'. Hopefully I'll see you soon." With those last words Ichigo began sprinting towards his home.

~GB~

 **AN: Damn! Another late chapter. I'm so sorry my guys. Had a surprise vacation and it through me way off as far as writing goes.**

 **I hope you like the chapter, please give me any and all critiques especially with how Ichigo and Tatsuki's relationship is going.**

 **Just a warning… things will change with the next chapter… like… a big change. I hope you guys are ready for it because I'm not pulling punches.**

 **Please leave a thoughtful review.**

 **Thx ;)**


	16. Requiem for a Strawberry

**AN: Just like chapter 15 I'm starting this one immediately after uploading the previous one only unlike 15 I plan to update on time…I hope.**

 **Nothing much I want to say right here… I hope you guys like where I'm going with this? It's not a wholly unique idea, but… eh… I hope you like it. And for those of you who studied hard for their SATs… the title should give you a good idea about what's happening.**

 **And this is it, I'm officially nixing Fullbringers and all of their abilities from canon. What's going to happen is more or less similar to the canon explanation, but without the dumb specifics of the abilities.**

 **OH! IMPORTANT! READ BOTTOM AUTHOR'S NOTE! IMPORTANT!**

~GB~

Chapter 15 Summary: Ichigo and Tatsuki are finally a couple, they had a nice dinner date and it was nice… nice. They spent most of the week hanging out and making out as couples are oft to do. Tatsuki got a bunch of martial arts… stuff and then hollows! Some troubling stuff after Tatsuki kills one which reveals she can absorb their essence as well which actively affects her soul. Then the couple have to split up because there's a whole bunch more hollows coming.

~GB~

Chapter 16: Requiem for a Strawberry

Ichigo had never before in his life been so worried for another person. Not only was he leaving Tatsuki alone, but they were probably dooming her to some horrible fate neither one understood. But there was no way she was going to sit around while people were in danger and she could do something about it, especially if he was out there too. With a heavy sigh Ichigo wung his monstrous club and decimated another hollow.

The weirdest part about the entire situation was how insanely easy everything was. Sure the enemies were getting close to the eighties hundreds in level, but none of them had the health to stand up to Ichigo's damage. Taking everything into consideration and doing some quick math in his head he figured out he was dealing 8,873 points of damage every single swing and so far no enemy had gotten above 5,000 health.

As such Ichigo was able to put most of his attention into his **spiritual awareness** which had so far revealed that things were going well. Ishida seemed to be taking care of most of the Kitakawase and Yumisawa districts and the unknown was absolutely wiping out the Mashiba, Mitsumiya, Kinogaya, and Komatsu districts. With Tatsuki taking care of the Gakuenchou district that left Ichigo to take care of everything else which was actually less than half of the town. And that was the odd part. The hollows seemed to only be popping up in town leading Ichigo to assume not everything was on the up and up.

An entire hour passed without incident. He was rejoined by Tatsuki after twenty or so minutes and together they had cleaned up all that was left. There were several close calls that had Ichigo's blood pumping an insane amount of adrenaline, but as he hoped no one was hurt. At least from what he could tell since he did not know what happened in the places he did not fight in. When he finally felt no more hollow presences Ichigo and Tatsuki sat down on a park bench to rest.

"Shit Tatsuki… that was a lot of hollows."

She rolled her eyes. "I know Ichigo I was there."

"I mean… it's just kinda weird. The last time a hollow appeared in… real life I guess, it had been a part of the game. Then that hollow dungeon was a dungeon, so completely separate from reality. Now there were what… close to 200 hollows hanging around? Maybe more? That's crazy!"

Tatsuki took a minute to absorb what he had said. "I guess you're right. It is weird."

"And to top it all off the hollows only appeared in town, like, almost exactly within the borders of Karakura."

"Now it's freaky. You think maybe we're being targeted. Or you're being targeted?"

"I don't know… but it's too suspicious to ignore." Ichigo then glanced around in the sky, looking for something Tatsuki could not see.

"What are you doing?"

"I was hoping the game would give us a quest or something… Oh well. Looks like we have a bigger problem on our hands."

A small distance away, still within the park, another garganta opened.

"Shit… watch out Tatsuki, this guy is more powerful than the other ones. **Observe** it when you can."

"Alright."

Just to be safe Ichigo pulled out the Asauchi he had been neglecting and switched his title back to **The Protector**.

"Got him… what the hell he looks… human-ish?"

 **Title: NA**

 **Name: Seeker Crash**

 **Race: Hollow (Adjuchas)**

 **Level: 150**

 **HP: 4,000/4,000**

 **RK: 5,000/5,000**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 200**

 **Vit: 200**

 **Dex: 240*2 = 480**

 **Int: 50**

 **Wis: 50**

 **Luck: 10**

 **Charm: 0**

 **XP: 409,932,786,233/644,245,093,800**

 **Summary: Seeker Crash led a large posse of normal hollows that he had amassed in order to lead an assault on his old home town especially since The Boss wasn't around anymore. He had hoped that the number of hollows would overwhelm whoever Soul Society had protecting Karakura and he could lay waste to the city. Unfortunately that didn't work out too well for him and now he's pissed.**

 **Bounty: 50,000,000 yen**

 **Drops: Souls, Hollow Mask Fragments, ?, ?, ?**

 **Bonuses**

 **Speed Demon**

 **This Adjuchas is built for speed and as such has doubled Dexterity**

 **Quick Hands**

 **His attacks can scale with dexterity**

 **Weaknesses**

 **He's pretty squishy**

"Shit." muttered Ichigo… this guy is too fast. And I didn't use reinforcement. I guess I have to go for broke. Game, put all of my points into dexterity." he commanded as he took off his armor and checked his stats.

 **Title: The Protector**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Human~ish (?)**

 **Level: 100**

 **HP: 9,480/9,480**

 **RK: 67,400/67,400**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 527**

 **Vit: 237**

 **Dex: 256*2 = 512**

 **Int: 100**

 **Wis: 100**

 **Luck: 105**

 **Charm: 100**

 **XP: 1,673,908/566,230,500**

"And give me a reinforcement that can turn on in ten seconds. Tatsuki… be safe." Ichigo then ran full tilt toward the adjuchas.

Seeker Crash had already noticed them and was surprised by the apparent human's speed. "I'm guessing it was you who destroyed my soldiers." He couldn't say anymore as he had to attempt to dodge Ichigo's attack. He got out of the way of the shinigami weapon, but the club had gone wide and caught his side full on.

 **Seeker Crash**

 **HP: 0/4,000**

 **RK: 5,000/5,000**

Ichigo landed past the falling body of the Adjuchas and did not look back. 'Like a badass.' he thought.

"Well look at that, I got all scared for nothing!" he laughed and looked at Tatsuki who was running toward him.

She too was giggling as she threw herself into Ichigo's arms. "I guess so! But next time be a bit more careful."

"No problem. Now-" Ichigo's sentence was interrupted as he screamed out in agony.

"Wha- what's wrong!" screamed a panicked Tatsuki.

Unfortunately Ichigo could not answer through the burning agony his body was feeling. All he could do was scream. Before Tatsuki, or anyone else, could help a very hollow like mask began to cover Ichigo's face as his screams intensified. Then, a garganta opened beneath him and he fell through. Without hesitation Tatsuki dived for the opening, but a hand caught the back of her shirt, stopping her from going with Ichigo on his trip.

"What the hell are you doing!" she screeched unable to see her captor from her angle.

A surprisingly gentle yet mature voice voice answered. "I'm stopping you from making a terrible mistake."

The woman put Tatsuki down so she took the opportunity to spin around and face the person who stopped her. Her unique appearance did not stop Tatsuki from yelling at her.

"What the hell do you mean a terrible mistake? Ichigo is gone… somewhere! And he's in pain and that weird hollow looking thing was on his face and- and- and-"

The teen's emotions were in far too much of a flux and her rage quickly became hopeless sadness.

"Where is he?" She sobbed. "Why'd you stop me? He was in so much pain."

Yoruichi was not especially used to comforting sad, scared little girls, but she made an effort in this instance. Kneeling next to Tatsuki, Yoruichi pulled the teen into a hug.

"There's too much to talk about right here, right now. So please calm down and follow me. I have a friend that might help us get Ichigo back."

That began to calm the Karate Queen down, but it also made her slightly suspicious.

"How do you know Ichigo?" She asked as she stood up.

Yoruichi smirked. "I don't. I know of him and you two have been frequenting the gym I go to."

Calming down a bit, but still suspicious Tatsuki **observed** the strange dark skinned woman.

 **Title: ?**

 **Name: ?**

 **Race: ?**

 **Level: ?**

 **HP: ?**

 **RK: ?**

 **Stats**

 **Str: ?**

 **Vit: ?**

 **Dex: ?**

 **Int: ?**

 **Wis: ?**

 **Luck: ?**

 **Charm: ?**

 **XP: ?**

 **Summary: ?**

 **Bonuses**

 **?**

 **Weaknesses**

 **?**

"Wha-what the hell?" The teen muttered under her breath.

"Follow me quickly please. I believe time is of the essence."

Without preamble Yoruichi began dashing away atop of buildings.

"What is with people and hopping on buildings?" Tatsuki asked as she struggled to keep up with the woman.

In a scant few minutes Tatsuki found herself in front of a quaint looking shop called quite simply: Urahara Shop.

Yoruichi entered the shop without hesitation. "What are you waiting for?" She asked Tatsuki who had paused to try and figure out what the shop could offer her. She followed Yoruichi nonetheless.

The duo quickly passed through the shop's customer area and went into the back. Yoruichi pulled aside a floorboard that revealed a pit with a ladder. Without preamble she jumped down followed closely by Tatsuki. They landed in a cavernous field and were happily greeted by a blonde man wearing a bucket hat and geta.

"You made it! And here I was worried you wouldn't convince the girl. Hello there Miss Arisawa, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"No. This lady said you can help me get Ichigo back. How?"

"Wow, so hasty. Listen I can, but it's a definite maybe. You see, your little boyfriend can be anywhere in Hueco Mundo and that place is as big as earth. Bigger actually if you count the forests below the surface. So, you can see my dilemma. For all I know we can go in there and never come out because we never found Ichigo. So here's the deal. This fine lady will be going and looking for Ichigo. You will be training with me." He ended his little speech with a weird happy dance.

"Like hell. I don't care if we can't get back! I need to find Ichigo!" she screamed her reiatsu flaring as she did.

"Ohoho, you're a strong one no doubt. But there are monsters over there that you can't even imagine facing. You'll be dead in minutes and then what can you do for Ichigo. And here's the kicker, most likely, we won't find Ichigo. If Ichigo _ever_ comes back it will be of his own power. And that's not the worst part, the worst part is that Ichigo might be a full blown hollow that we have to put down."

Hearing such news began to break Tatsuki's spirit causing her to collapse to her knees. "Then what are we even doing?" She whispered.

"Like I said, Yoruichi is going to look for him, but that will only be after I have some sort of idea where he is which will take some time due to the fact that the instruments that do that are in the very earliest stages of development."

"How will you train me and develop these things?"

Kisuke laughed awkwardly. "Well, I was still figuring things out while we were talking and I wanted to go with my original plan. Obviously that's no longer the case so Yoruichi can train you… right Yoruichi?"

Yoruichi had been observing Tatsuki the entire time and answered without hesitation. "Yes."

"Yay! And if Yoruichi is busy Tessai can help!" Urahara calmed down and gained a more serious tone. "Right now you need to go home and get some rest. Tonight must have been quite the ordeal especially with your boyfriend disappearing the way he did. Come back early tomorrow morning to begin training. We can also explain some more things then. Sounds good?"

The odd shop owner was correct, Tatsuki was physically and mentally exhausted. All she felt at the moment was hopeless and she desperately wished Ichigo was there with her to tell her it was all alright. Understanding there was nothing more to be done was soul crushing, but eventually Tatsuki got up and slowly made her way to the ladder.

With one last look at the two strangers Tatsuki said, "Tomorrow. You need to tell me everything tomorrow."

~GB~

A frantic Hisae opened her front door, praying Tatsuki was on the other side. To her immediate relief it seemed as though her prayers had been answered, but relief quickly became concern when she took in her daughters state. Quite simply she didn't look so great. Her sweat pants and tank top were badly wrinkled and looked as though they had been soaked in sweat and her hair was a mess. But most damningly were her red rimmed eyes and outright depressed look. Something terrible had happened to make her strong, little girl cry like that.

After she took in her daughter's appearance she realized something was missing, or rather, someone, that someone being Ichigo Kurosaki. Hisae was a smart woman, she could put two and two together, but it seemed to wrong for the redhead to dump Tatsuki… ever. The two had been so clearly enjoying their time together…

When the .5 seconds it took to think all of that passed Hisae grabbed her daughter and pulled her in for a tight hug. "Oh my baby, what happened?"

The floodgates erupted once more as Tatsuki helplessly sobbed into her mother's shoulder. It took a full minute of blubbering for the teen to finally get out coherent sentences.

"Ma… Ichigo's gone. He's gone Ma. He's gone and I don't know where he is." was all she could get out before she continued to cry.

'Gone? That's an odd way to put it.' Hisae thought. "Listen honey, you're young. This sort of stuff happens all the time. In a way, it's good you're going through this now so that you know how to deal with it better later in life. Ichigo breaking up with you is not-"

She was interrupted when Tatsuki pulled out of her embrace and looked at her as though she was insane.

"What?" The teen asked, mostly done crying. "N-no. Ichigo didn't break up with me. He… he…"

Tatsuki was quiet for a moment as she mulled over what she could possibly say to her mother that would be a good enough explanation for the insanity that had been the last hour without saying Ichigo had seemingly turned into the demons they had been slaying and fell into a hole portal thing.

"We were walking through the park when a bunch of suits suddenly walked up to us. They asked to speak to Ichigo privately which he eventually agreed to. They talked for a few minutes but then a black van pulled up and they all went into it, Ichigo too! I started to get freaked out, but one of the suits told me Ichi was going with them by his own volition and that I wouldn't be able to contact him for several months. The scariest part was that Ichigo didn't say a word to me, he just left."

Hisae had not been prepared in the least for what her daughter had just told her. "Uhh… what? That's… insane! How… what? Did you talk to the police?"

"No, I think the suits were a part of the government… and what would I tell them anyway? My boyfriend suddenly left with a bunch of guys and I don't know where he is. That won't go over well, Ichigo didn't struggle at all!"

"This really doesn't feel right Tatsuki…"

"I know mom but… we can't do anything. Even if we called the Prime Minister he probably wouldn't tell us anything because whatever Ichigo got into it's gotta be secretive."

"Oh…" Hisae pulled her daughter in for another hug. "I guess… I guess we'll just have to hope and pray he's ok."

Tatsuki nodded as she began to succumb to sleep within her mother's arms. "Yeah… hope."

~GB~

Bright and early Saturday morning Tatsuki once again found herself in the Urahara shop. While she was still horrified about Ichigo's situation she had more or less come to terms with the situation. 'After all, hat and clogs said I'd be destroyed in that world. If I want to help find Ichigo, I have to be stronger.'

She had been let in by an absolute mountain of a man, who rivaled even the blacksmith in size, named Tessai. He was exceedingly polite as he led her to a small room in the back of the shop where Urahara and Yoruichi were already drinking tea at a kotatsu. Without prompting Tessai took a… kneel, and poured himself tea before pouring some into a cup that Tatsuki assumed was meant for her.

Since no one seemed to be very eager to explain everything just then she chose to kneel down and try the tea. Luckily it was delicious, but oddly enough it also seemed to relax her. Tatsuki hadn't realized how wound up she had been despite coming to terms, or so she thought, with everything that was going on. Obviously the other three people at the table knew that and it was not until she put down her empty tea cup that Urahara began to speak.

"Unfortunately, we have a lot of time so let me start explaining things on the most basic levels and then build up. This might be a long discussion, are you comfortable?"

"I suppose." she answered, disheartened by the odd man's words.

"Good. So… you've got a soul. It's who you are and when your physical body dies it becomes what we shinigami call a plus which is just a wandering spirit. These spirits are then delivered to Soul Society through a ritual shinigami preform called konso. Got it?"

"Yes."

"Great. I'll stick to pluses for right now. Unfortunately not everyone dies without regrets so instead of becoming pluses they become either jibakurei or tsukirei. There is a third option we call togabito which are souls destined for hell, but we can't do anything about those guys so ignore them. Now, it is important to know that what keeps a person's souls connected to their body is their chain of fate. If that breaks, you're dead. The chain of fate is also what keeps jibakurei and tsukirei from wandering about freely. Jibakurei have regrets relating to some locations so their chain binds them to said location. Similarly tsukirei are bound to a person. These bound souls are part of what make a shinigami's job important. Are you following me?"

What he was saying was certainly interesting, but to be honest Tatsuki hadn't noticed too many souls like the ones he had just described around town which she considered odd. "I think so."

"I'll continue then. A hollow is a soul whose chain of fate has been completely destroyed which results in them losing their hearts. In a sense they die all over again and are reformed as the monsters you fought with last night. Hollows are hungry beasts who wish to devour souls to not only sate said hunger, but to grow in power. As such, both living humans and pluses are on the menu which is why a shinigami's greatest objective is to annihilate any hollows they come across. If you were worried, know that death is not the end of a hollow, for when they are slain by a shinigami's zanpakuto they are purified and sent to Soul Society as a plus… unless they sucked in which case they get sent to hell." Urahara then paused to let it all sink in.

It was doing so easily. "I got all that, crazy stuff, but nice to know I guess." Tatsuki then waited for him to continue before realizing something. "But wait! I didn't kill those hollows with a zanpakuto… last night Ichigo did say he felt the hollow presence within me growing… am I… becoming a hollow?"

The relaxed atmosphere quickly became much more serious as Urahara leaned forward toward Tatsuki and rested his head upon his now steepled hands.

"That's the million dollar question and the only reason I'm actually glad I can't get to work on finding Ichigo right now. It makes absolutely no sense that what you're doing. In all of my many centuries of living I have never encountered a human who has done what you have. But what's most disturbing is your capability to do combat with hollows."

"Oh… I think you can blame Ichigo for that one. I couldn't see pluses and hollows or any of that stuff before I began to hand out with him again."

"I am aware of Kurosaki's impressive reiatsu, though I find it hard to believe that he has affected you so greatly while still living as a human. Unfortunately, there is no better explanation I can think of, but that still doesn't answer why you absorb the souls of hollows you've slain."

"I told you! I don't know either! Ichigo and I found out about all this at the same times you did. We… we were going to figure things out as we went." The tomboy's voice became slightly somber.

"Of course… well, as far as I can tell there aren't any negatives involved with this, which is again, odd. The hollow souls are tainting your own, but there is no fighting happening… simply odd. I suppose I can continue with the lesson, but I imagine you wish to train. Yoruichi?"

The deep purple haired woman finally looked away from Tatsuki who she had been scrutinizing the entire time. "I actually wish to do something a bit… reckless. You've got some of the Quincy Hollow Bait? I'd rather not attract any more attention than we did last night."

"Right, right! I think I've got some…" The blonde rummaged through some crates in his shop before triumphantly holding up a few small coin shaped disks. "Ahah! Here you go. Don't have too much fun now, I'll be here trying to figure out what would happen if a human hollowfies. Ta-ta!" He said as he leapt down his ladder.

"What an odd man…"

Yoruichi snorted. "You don't know the half of it. I've known him for centuries and sometimes… he's a unique individual. But he's also an undeniable genius, so have faith Tatsuki because if anyone in all of existence could find Ichigo it's him."

Tatsuki wasn't quite sure how to respond. Of course she wanted to believe this woman, but she was a stranger, they both were. They also knew much more about Ichigo and her then she did about them and that made her extremely uncomfortable since it meant they had been observing the couple to some degree. Ultimately, Tatsuki knew she had no other options at the moment so they were the only ones she could trust.

"I… I really, truly hope so. Now, where are we headed?"

Yoruichi smirked. "In the interest of keeping innocents safe we're going to head to a small forest the next town over." She said as she began to travel along the rooftops.

"Oh. You mean Nishibotsu Park? Nice." Tatsuki said as she followed.

A few minutes later the two women were in a densely wooded area far from any hiking trails.

"Alright kiddo. I sensed you decimating those Hollows last night, but I didn't get to watch. So I'll break only one of these bad boys for now and if you're up for it break a few more to see if stronger ones come out."

"Uhm… ok, but can I get a minute to change please? I brought some clothes with me so…"

"That's fine I'll give you some privacy." She didn't give her any privacy. Instead She turned into a black cat and perched on a branch that gave her a good view of the teenage girl. 'How on earth are you going to change little girl?' Yoruichi wondered as she settled down.

Believing she was alone Tatsuki opened up the stat menu to see if she had leveled up last night.

 **Title: Karate Queen**

 **Name: Tatsuki Arisawa**

 **Race: Human~**

 **Level: 97**

 **HP: 7,680/7,680**

 **RK: 5,840/5,840**

 **Stats: 90**

 **Str: 358 +**

 **Vit: 192 +**

 **Dex: 174 +**

 **Int: 100 +**

 **Wis: 100 +**

 **Luck: 6 +**

 **Charm: 50 +**

 **XP: 89,012/419,429,800**

"Wow, a bunch of levels _and_ some stat gains." She whispered to herself. No reason to alert her companion of her abilities. "So, what to do…"

 **Title: Karate Queen**

 **Name: Tatsuki Arisawa**

 **Race: Human~**

 **Level: 97**

 **HP: 8,000/8,000**

 **RK: 6,000/6,000**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 400**

 **Vit: 200**

 **Dex: 200**

 **Int: 100**

 **Wis: 100**

 **Luck: 20**

 **Charm: 50**

 **XP: 89,012/419,429,800**

"Ooh, everything looks nice, real nice. I didn't think that'd happen, cool. But… maybe I should have put more into luck. I don't think I'll be getting Ichigo's treasure hunter bonus anymore. Oh well, I'll just have to work harder to get stronger so I can actually save his strawberry looking self. Oh Kami, be safe Ichigo." The last thought almost brought tears to her eyes, but she refused to break down when she could be getting stronger. 'Just have to change and I'll be all set.'

Yoruichi hadn't seen anything noticeable until the girl stopped whispering to herself and tapping the air repeatedly. What the teen said had not made much sense to the cat, but she knew it had to have some sort of significance given how seriously she had been debating her choices. The big reveal Yoruichi had been hoping for happened when the girl pulled out a full set of samurai armor and began to pull it on.

'What? How on earth… does she have some sort of dimensional powers? Does Ichigo have them as well? How did this come about? Does it have to do with Ichigo's unique situation, or it is something more?' The black cat shook its head to free itself of such thoughts. 'I have nothing to go off of besides what I just saw. The question is whether or not I should confront the girl myself or to talk to Kisuke. No, we need to trust each other. I'll talk to her about it at a later date once I feel that we're close. For now, she needs all the help she can get and whatever that is might.'

"Ok! Miss Yoruichi? I'm dressed now." Tatsuki called.

A few seconds later Yoruichi walked out from behind a far off tree, in human form of course, and raised her left eyebrow in question. "What on earth are you wearing girl?"

Tatsuki blushed, both for her samurai armor and her stupidity for just pulling out a full set of armor out of nowhere without a good explanation in mind.

"Ichigo gave me this, it's supposed to help fight Hollows? I don't know for sure, but last night went pretty well, I only got hit once or twice. And I can move pretty well in it too." She said as she tried to distract the dark skinned woman from the shiny gold knuckles she was wearing on her hands.

"Hmm." Yoruichi inquisitively considered the armor. She already knew it came from apparently nowhere, but she was now curious about how it would help fight Hollows. 'Best way would be to see it in action.' "Alright." She answered simply. "Let's get started." Yoruichi said as she crushed one of the disks.

"Oh… ok."

Immediately Tatsuki went on high alert. She couldn't sense people like Ichigo could so she would have to really on her eyes and ears to find the Hollows. Luckily they tended to be be big and loud. It took a minute, but eventually Tatsuki heard the obvious sound of a tree being turned into kindling and dashed toward it.

" **Observe**."

 **Title: NA**

 **Name: Iron Roller**

 **Race: Hollow**

 **Level: 35**

 **HP: 1,000/1,000**

 **RK: 1,200/1,200**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 50**

 **Vit: 50**

 **Dex: 50**

 **Int: 10**

 **Wis: 10**

 **Luck: 5**

 **Charm: 0**

 **XP: 2,090/76,200**

 **Summary: Literally cannon fodder.**

 **Bounty: 0 yen**

 **Drops: Souls, Hollow Mask Fragments**

 **Bonuses**

 **NA**

 **Weaknesses**

 **Dodging**

"Well… that's underwhelming." With nary a thought Tatsuki delivered a life ending punch to the giant ball-like hollow forcing it to disappear into black dust that entered her body. "Kami, I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that."

"Me neither. If I had to guess I'd say you're about as strong as a recruit fresh out of the academy. More incoming by the way." Yoruichi commented from her seat on a nearby tree.

"That's it?" Tatsuki asked, but before Yoruichi could answer she was dashing at the next hollow.

"Hm, what a spunky girl. Definitely should ramp things up." Yoruichi said to herself as she crushed another hollow bait.

Tatsuki found the next hollow accompanied by two others, but like Iron Roller, they were low leveled and easily dispatched despite their number advantage. It was a few minutes later when she had tracked down another couple of hollows that things started to become difficult.

Tatsuki stood before five hollows all around level sixty, noticeably higher than before. Individually, or even as a group, they wouldn't have been much of an issue, but a blue screen proved that wouldn't be the case.

 **For being a closely knit group the Aura [Strength in Numbers] has been activated. All enemy damage will be doubled. There is also a chance for group members to heal their downed teammates for free if given enough time.**

"What the hell? I don't remember Ichigo mentioning anything like this… dammit. **Observe**."

 **Title: NA**

 **Name: Omega Keeler**

 **Race: Hollow**

 **Level: 65**

 **HP: 1,600/1,600**

 **RK: 2,000/2,000**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 95**

 **Vit: 80**

 **Dex: 100**

 **Int: 20**

 **Wis: 20**

 **Luck: 10**

 **Charm: 0**

 **XP: 1,679,012/4,914,600**

 **Summary: Omega Keeler is easily identifiable by the odd protrusion on his back that is used a sort of fishing rod… for Shinigami. He has slain a few Shinigami in his time as his rod is an extremely unconventional weapon.**

 **Bounty: 900,000 yen**

 **Drops: Souls, Hollow Mask Fragments**

 **Bonuses**

 **[Strength in Numbers] Aura**

 **Weaknesses**

 **Fishing Rod**

"I guess they don't have a leader, but it's nice to know they all have a weakness of some sort." The girl remarked after observing the entire group. "I just have to take them out quickly and with such low health that won't be a problem."

Tatsuki promptly decimated the group. With 200 points in dexterity it took almost no effort for her to dredge each hollow's attack if they were able to react to them at all. Yoruichi was impressed.

"Well, well, well." She said as she landed gracefully by the surprised teen. "I'm sure some highly seated officer would have a bit of a problem accomplishing what you just did. Without using Shikai or Bankai of course. Exterminate the rest of these guys because if I use any more bait we'll have an incident similar to last night on our hands and that's the last thing we want." Yoruichi then jumped away without waiting for a response.

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Hollow Extermination: There's a bunch of Hollows running amuck and if they get out of the forest we'll have a serious problem on our hands.**

 **Objective: Slay 50 Hollows**

 **Bonus Objectives: Do it in 10 minutes**

 **Reward: Yen**

 **Bonus Reward: ?**

 **Accept?**

 **[Y/N]**

"That's an easy yes." When Tatsuki hit Y she noticed a timer appear in the top left corner of her vision with 0/50 underneath it. "That's nice of you game. Now, I just gotta find all of these bastards."

The next ten minutes were quite nerve wracking for the tomboy. Gargantas were easy to spot, but she had no way of properly tracking down the Hollows she had missed. In order to compensate she activated **Limit Burst** bringing her Dexterity up to 400 and turning herself into a human pinball. As she was hunting down the hollows she got several notifications about how her dodge skill had leveled up thanks to all the tree dodging she was doing. Tatsuki had slain 48 hollows by minute nine, but she had no idea where the last two could have been and Limit Burst's health cost was beginning to take its toll and she was down to 3,420 HP. Not truly dangerous, but the last two hollows were together, unfortunately they were some sort of symbiont.

One hollow was the base, it was quadrupedal and its legs bowed outwards like a spider's at each of the cardinal directions. It's face was large and oval as it nearly touched two of the legs, but didn't reach above or below its body. Inserted in what seemed to be the hollow's hollow hole was another hollow that looked like a large brain with tentacles held within a thin membrane. Periodically small arcs of electricity would shoot out and run along the base hollow's back which caused it to twitch.

"I don't even care. I got less than a minute to do this so…"

Immediately Tatsuki leapt at the brain on top and ripped open the membrane. She ricocheted herself off of a tree and gave the brain blow that sent it flying into different tree. She had half expected the shock she felt throughout her body, but it did less than 200 damage and she easily collected herself so she could wail on the hollow's back on which she was standing. A second later both hollows dissolved into her body and Tatsuki finished the quest with less than thirty seconds to spare.

"Yes!" She cheered with a bit of enthusiasm as she turned off **Limit Burst**.

Yoruichi once again landed next to her, seemingly out of nowhere which unnerved Tatsuki to no end.

"Yes indeed. That was quite impressive especially since you don't seem to have any sort spiritual awareness outside of the ability to see spirits. A feat such as that is representative of a second or third seated shinigami's strength. I see you like to use your fists, let me give you this scroll. It's rather old so be careful, but it's the martial art taught to shinigami in the academy which is specifically designed to combat hollows. Of course it's a last resort since zanpakuto are so much more effective, but I doubt you'll be able to wield one being human and all. And before you say anything, this is my personal scroll that I used all those centuries ago when I was in school. It's completely covered with notes of mine and since I'm one of the greatest hand to hand combatants in all of the Gotei 13, that's a big deal."

"Wow, that's awesome. Thanks a lot."

"Don't thank me too much. It's clear that what we can do with hollow combat won't help you much so I say we're going to stick to teaching and sparring. While Kisuke is figuring out how to find your boyfriend we might make small excursions into Hueco Mundo so you can begin acclimate to its environment and face stronger opponents."

"I guess. You're the centuries old god of death. As long as what we're going helps me get stronger so I can find and/or save Ichigo I'm for it."

"That's good to hear. But also, don't forget your life. I need you to understand that things might not go the way you plan. That if worst comes to worst and Ichigo ends up dead… or impossible to save… It's not easy, I know that. But you're still human and you're still young. So, I want our meetings to be after you go to school and to be quite honest you don't have to come everyday. This might take months, so please."

A deafening fuzziness filled Tatsuki's ears and body as Yoruichi told her exactly what she thought. It hurt to even think about the possibility that Ichigo would die, but Yoruichi was right. At the end of the day life would go on no matter what happened, so the question change from: What if he's dead?; to: If he's dead, what do I do? Tatsuki knew Ichigo would want her to move on with her life, but damn it would be hard.

Yoruichi watched sadly as the teenager seemed to come to grips with what she had said. She knew the pain of losing loved ones and did not envy the girl for her possible heartbreak. 'But to be so young… truly a tragedy.'

Eventually Tatsuki said, "I suppose you're right. I don't want you to be, I want to find ichigo and bring him back home but… I won't let my life fall apart. We'll do that, the after school thing."

"I'm sorry, but it had to be said."

"I know, but… what about Ichigo's family? Or his friends at school? What will we tell them?"

Yoruichi frowned. "Kisuke is dealing with telling his family which is a job I do not envy him for having. School will probably be a lot simpler since Isshin will have to deal with that. He'll probably just say Ichigo suddenly went away to visit some family or something."

"Isshin? You're on a first name basis with Ichigo's dad?"

"Ha! Yes I am. Actually it was Kisuke who helped Isshin open his clinic and that's the same time that I met him so I've known him for longer than you've been alive girly."

"Uhh, ok."

Yoruichi blinked. "Fine. Anyway the day is still young. Let's do some sparring so I can teach you the basics of Hakuda. We'll head back to the shop later, maybe you'll learn a little more about Isshin there."

~GB~

 **An: Phew! Finally done! Sorry, I had another vacation that I totally forgot about an I couldn't write (my family would kill me). Most of this was done before I left though. Oh well. Anyway, onto the important thing.**

 **IMPORTANT PLEASE READ**

 **So I've got a lot of stories out. Five actually. The tragic thing is that none of those stories are the first one I wrote which is on paper which was the reason I began writing fanfiction. It's a it kooky in that it's a DBZ/Fairy Tail crossover with a Erza/Gohan pairing. The other thing is that I've been toying with the idea of a One Piece Gamer story that's got me hooked. But all that is just way too much.**

 **So I'm putting up a poll.**

 **There will be seven options, obviously. I want you guys to vote about which three you desperately want to me to keep writing with the number one winner being the one I put the most effort into. This will stay up for a while, more than a month probably, since I need to get something out for all of my other stories so those readers can know about it. (I don't know how much reader crossover there is, probably a bit.)**

 **Check out the other options so your votes can be genuine and… that's it. There probably won't be an update for a while since I'll be taking some time to put out chapters for everything else. I might even put up the first chapters for the two fics that don't exist yet.**

 **Anyway, please leave a thoughtful review.**

 **Thx ;)**


	17. Revelations 13:2

**AN: So I put out a chapter for Might and Magic the other day and boy howdy did that get popular. Perhaps it was the time at which I posted it, but it nearly doubled in favorites and follows practically overnight. Here's to hoping something like that could happen here lol.**

 **For those not in the know I have closed the poll. Might and Magic won overall beating this story by seven votes which surprised me. Sure, Harry Potter has by far the biggest fanbase of any fandom on this site, but this story is double the length and had more favorites and follows. It really doesn't matter because this story and Might and Magic eclipsed third place by over 150 votes. Curiously, third, fourth, and fifth place all had a relatively equal number of votes. So I've changed my mind. Originally I said I'd take the top three stories, continue writing for them, and emphasise the first place winner. Now, I'm going to write Might and Magic and Game and Bleach at an equal pace. My goal would be to get out a chapter for both of these stories every week or every two weeks if I miss one. So, Goku the Gamer, A Fox's Touch, and Luffy's New Game Plus will be updated once a month or once every two months.**

 **I apologize to the like… six people that liked King of the Pit. I love that story and one day might revive it as a gamer story with the same exact premise and setting, we'll see. Also, the crossover fic will one day get its first chapter up here, but that may be tomorrow or next year.**

 **I hope you guys are ok with the way I've decided to set things up, I know fans of Might and Magic and this story are.**

 **Anyway, onto the chapter.**

~GB~

Chapter 16 Summary: Ichigo fought a boss of sorts, wins, and then gets sucked into a garganta whilst hollowfying. Tatsuki meets Kisuke and Yoruichi and reveal a bunch of stuff like knowing how they're shinigami and try to figure out a way to save Ichigo. Tatsuki talks to her mom and comes up with an explanation as to why ichigo disappeared and why she's all messed up. The next day Tatsuki returns to Urahara's shop and is told there's no easy way to save Ichigo and he may be lost forever. Then she and Yoruichi train for a while against hollows and Yoruichi begins to suspect of Tatsuki's borrowed gamer power.

~GB~

Chapter 17: Revelations 13:2

Late Saturday night, after Tatsuki had returned to her house after a long day of training and learning Hakuda, Kisuke set out from his humble shop. While he knew he had to do what he was about to do, it didn't make it any easier for him. Sure, he and Isshin weren't best friends, but to tell someone close to you such horrible news was always painful. After all, he had done it enough times for the families who lost sons and daughters in his division.

Kisuke sagged his weight onto his cane as he hesitated at the entrance of the Kurosaki house. "Huuu… best get this over with." he said to himself as he knocked on the door.

Karin opened it since Yuzu was busy playing with Ru-chan and their father was… being their father.

"Oh? Hello there little girl. I was wondering if your father was home?"

Karin eyed the oddly dressed man with suspicion, but figured if her father was going to have any friends they were going to be as weird as he was.

"Yes he is gimme a sec." Karin turned her head inward toward the living room. "DAD! SOMEONE'S HERE TO SEE YOU!"

The distinct sound of a grown man tripping and slamming into the ground could be heard from within.

"One second baby. Daddy'll be right there!"

Slightly flustered and with his hair in disarray a smiling Isshin Kurosaki appeared. The smile quickly became a a curious stare upon seeing who was at the door.

"Oh? Hey Kisuke what are you doing here?"

"I have some… news. I'm not sure if you want your daughters privy to it."

Isshin fixed Kisuke with a long hard stare. "Fine. Karin, head inside and go to your room with Yuzu."

Karin wanted to protest, after all, if anyone should be told important information it was not their father. But his uncharacteristic seriousness convinced her let the adults talk alone. Without a word Karin left to her room.

"Now Kisuke, what's so important that my precious baby girls can't know about it? Does it have to do something about Ichigo's little hollow slaying adventures? 'Cuz I already know about them. Weird as it may be that he's not a shinigami, but who cares, he's been coming home just fine… until last night." Realization bloomed across Isshin's features. "Something happened last night didn't it? He didn't finally decide to shack up with his "secret" girlfriend? Damn."

"I'm surprised. I came here thinking I'd have to explain everything, have you regained your abilities?"

"No, I have a little something going on, but nothing to write home about. It has helped that that the girls' new best friend is an adorable little hollow."

That bit of news alarmed the hat wearing man. "A hollow? And it isn't a threat? How? Why? Wait. If it isn't dangerous it isn't important right now. Ichigo is gone, not dead, but gone. From what I understand he had defeated the leader of a large group of hollows that appeared the other night before hollowfying himself. As he was hollowfying a garganta appeared beneath him and sucked him into Hueco Mundo… most likely. So…"

Isshin took a deep breath through his nose before responding. "So Ichigo's gone. He might be a hollow. He might not even be alive given that he's somewhere in Hueco Mundo. And… what? Can you do anything about this?"

"Of course old friend. I've been working out a way to track him, but the machine is only in its infancy. I don't even have all of the materials I need to build it and of course it has to actually work. Since it could be a long time before anything gets done… we have to consider the possibility that your son will die or… be stuck a hollow."

Isshin sagged against the doorframe. "I… ok. And uhh… is… is anything else going on? What about actually going into Hueco Mundo?"

Kisuke frowned. "You know that could be a suicide mission, even if it's the way this search will end. But yes, Yoruichi and his girlfriend are doing some serious training with hopes of doing short expeditions to look for him. This is of course a gamble given how massive Hueco Mundo is. Just… I'm sorry. I wasn't there to help him, hell, we hadn't even met."

"Stop, my son is a fifteen year old boy who thinks he can take on the world. You have zero responsibility over him, I should have come clean about my past and his mother's death. It might have given him direction… and who knows, this might have been an inevitability. We knew that White was inside of him… either way, thank you for coming here. I've got a lot I need to figure out."

"Well, I'm still sorry. Take care and I know I'll be working as hard as possible until your son is found."

Isshin simply nodded before waving off Kisuke and closing the door. "What am I going to tell the girls?"

~GB~

Isshin chose not to tell the girls immediately, but they weren't idiots so he knew they'd start asking questions eventually. So when he was tucking them in for the night he took a seat on the floor.

"Girls… remember when mom died?"

Neither child answered for quite some time before Karin said, "Of course dad. Why are you bringing it up?"

"It looks like… Well… Ichigo he-" Isshin fumbled over his words before Yuzu interrupted him.

"Ichigo's fine dad. Rutoshi told me so, so don't worry about it."

That threw him for a loop. "What? How?"

"Wel, he didn't come home the other day and even though she's with us all the time I asked Rutoshi if she knew anything. She did and it turns out even if he's not here… like in this world, he's ok."

"Uhh… ok. Then… I guess bringing up mom was wrong, I was prepared to tell you he might be dead…" Isshin practically jumped toward Yuzu and hugged her. "But I have such smart, resourceful daughters!" He gave Karin a kiss before leaving. "Have a good night alright girls, and thank you Rutoshi."

As he slipped into his own bed Isshin thought, 'Gotta tell Kisuke about this tomorrow, maybe grab Rutoshi before heading over.' before succumbing to a blissfully comfortable sleep.

~GB~

When Kisuke woke up the next morning and prepared to continue adjusting the schematics to his device, he did not anticipate being interrupted by one Isshin Kurosaki and a hand sized hollow.

"So you're telling me that this little… girl, knows that Ichigo is alive and well?" Isshin nodded quickly in response prompting Kisuke to scrutinize the tiny hollow. "How? How can you possibly know this?"

Rutoshi giggled, did a little spin, and jumped off of Isshin's palm onto the floor. The moment her feet touched the ground she grew… a lot.

Full sized Rutoshi looked a lot like tiny Rutoshi. Same black skin, same ridiculously long sky blue hair, hell, even the helmet-like sabertooth tiger skull was still there if a little bigger than before. The difference was rather straightforward, she had a body that could knock men unconscious with a single glance. The changes made her slightly tattered dress go from cute to nearly pornographic, but none of that is what mattered to the two gentlemen she stood before. They were far more interested in what she had to say.

In a voice surprisingly deep for a woman (50's noir femme fatale) Rutoshi said, "I came into being under circumstances that you will probably never become privy to. My purpose was to be there when Ichigo went full hollow so that he had someone to keep him in check and to make sure he stayed sane. Unfortunately, I was having too much fun with your girls and Ichigo with his for either of us to properly establish any sort of relationship. So we've been… punished in a way. We're still connected, though he is unaware of that fact, so I know that he is still alive. I don't know where, so I can't help you find him, but there is some peace in knowing he still lives no?"

Both men were silent as they absorbed what she had said. Kisuke was the first to speak up. "So I'm to assume you are not a threat to us, correct?"

"Of course not, above all things I'm loyal to Ichigo. How could I say that and hurt his friends, family, or someone trying to help him?"

"That's good to know Rutoshi, but how come you've gotten all… grown up?" asked Isshin.

The lady in question chuckled. "As I said before I was supposed to be with Ichigo when he… turned. That change was directly linked to the return of my powers so that I could actually keep him in check."

"Interesting, I won't overstep and try and demand anything of you, but Ichigo's girlfriend is undergoing some training with a good friend of mine in order to find Ichigo. I was wondering if you'd be able to help." asked Kisuke.

"Of course! After all, she'll need it."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, you'll see soon enough. For now lead me to her."

A short trip down a ladder later found the three witnessing Tatsuki's intense training under Yoruichi. At the moment they were sparring, each blow they traded was earth shattering and Isshin was astounded by what he was seeing. 'How could a fifteen year old girl be so powerful?' he wondered. 'If I'm remembering correctly she is already deserving of a seated position, and a high one at that. Maybe not a lieutenant, but… wow.'

The group watched silently until the two girls stopped their combat which was immediately followed by Yoruichi drilling Tatsuki on her forms.

"Your punches have been good, but not great and you rarely counter like you should. The kicks have been fine, but you're putting too much emphasis on them which leaves you open to retaliation since you can't get into your defensive stance quick enough. Speaking of, your balance is off on your defensive stance. Get into it again. Alright, bring your left leg back a bit and move your right leg a bit more to the center. Good. Hold it!" Yoruichi pushed Tatsuki who barely moved at all. "Great. Relax, we've got some visitors."

Tatsuki was mightily surprised by that information and when she found their audience she was bound for even more shock.

"Mr. Kurosaki?" Sure, Yoruichi and Kisuke had mentioned they knew him, but it was still weird to actually see him.

Isshin waved in response. "Well hello there little missy. I knew you and my son were running around and doing some fun stuff, but can't say I expected this."

Tatsuki blushed hard. They hadn't talked to Isshin at all about their relationship and she felt bad about it. "I'm sorry, Ichigo insisted on not telling you, he said you'd be weird about it…"

"What? Me? No…" Internally Isshin struggled with the urge to hug the girl and twirl her around like a doll. His son had a girlfriend for kami's sake!

Yoruichi interjected, "And who may this be? It's clearly a hollow, I'd like an explanation Kisuke."

Rutoshi spoke for herself. "I am Rutoshi. I am supposed to be accompanying Ichigo at this time, but certain circumstances stopped that from happening. I am here to confirm that Ichigo is still alive and to assist Tatsuki in her training."

A massive weight Tatsuki didn't realize she was holding onto left her when Rutoshi said that. Still, she was confused on who exactly this woman was and how she could claim she was supposed to be Ichigo.

"It still doesn't justify your presence here. You're a hollow, how can we trust you?" Yoruichi pressed.

Considering how to respond Rutoshi chose to show her commitment and trustworthiness through action. Raising her left arm straight in front of her Rutoshi brought her right arm down on it at the elbow, cutting it off cleanly. She barely flinched at the pain as he blood spilled onto the floor and instead stared at Yoruichi.

"You might not be able to trust me, but I swear on my blood that I am here to help. Ichigo's wishes are my own and my ultimate allegiance is to him, how could I say that and hurt those that want to help him?"

Slowly the blood stopped pouring out as her arm began growing back.

"Besides, Tatsuki will need my help to control a power she will soon come into regarding the souls she has been absorbing."

The men were wide eyed at the display. "Jeez, way to be dramatic Rutoshi." Kisuke muttered.

"Why'd you do that? We believed you just fine! We could have talked to Yoruichi." Isshin added.

Rutoshi said nothing before Yoruichi finally said, "Fine, you certainly seem willing to help… and we were wondering about Tatsuki's hollow situation anyway, if you can tell us what it's all about we'd be grateful."

"That's for Tatsuki's ears only, what she wishes to share with you is something she can decide upon after her training is complete."

"You want to hijack her training?"

"A little bit, yes. What we will be going over is very important and will take a long time to master so it should be done sooner rather than later. To be honest what we have to do should only take a day or two so don't worry about it, you'll have a long time to train."

Tatsuki finally spoke up. "Wait, wait, wait! All this is about me, so can you tell me exactly what it is you want to do."

"Of course." Rutoshi answered before speaking to the other three people present. "Can we get some privacy, I meant it that what we have to talk about is for her ears only."

Kisuke answered, "Sure, come up and tell us when you're done ok?"

"What? Kisuke? How can you-" protested Yoruichi before she was interrupted.

"Hey, she just cut off her arm, and even if it's growing back, that's hardcore. I think we can trust her. Also, that same hollow has been hanging out with little girls for the past week."

"You lecher, you just see a nice pair of-"

"Now, now, let's not lie about things." Kisuke chuckled nervously. "Let's just head upstairs ok?"

"I have to get back to the clinic anyway, have fun you two!"

"Bye! Still Kisuke-"

"Ok, that's enough. I swear I'll do the thing if you don't come upstairs with me."

"You wouldn't."

"I really would."

"Fine. I still don't like it."

Rutoshi and Tatsuki had watched the exchange much like one would an improv performance. Neither knew what "the thing" was, but they were glad it worked in getting Yoruichi out of the basement.

When they were finally alone Tatsuki was the first to speak. "You said your ultimate allegiance was for Ichigo and and that you could help me with my powers. Are you a part of the game?"

"Sharp, but I should expect such a simple deduction from someone with 100 intelligence."

"So what's your deal, how'd you come about."

"I am an NPC, one designed for the sole purpose of assisting Ichigo with understanding and acclimating to his Hollow powers and surviving in Hueco Mundo. After an initial crash course I would set up shop in the abyss and be available to help with almost everything when it comes to hollow powers. For example, you've been sucking up souls much like Ichigo has, but you're not in the same situation as he is. I can easily purify you of the souls you've gained so they could function solely as a currency, or, when you've reached a threshold like Ichigo did I can help you with your new powers."

"That's a lot to unpack… first off, how come Ichigo never talked about you?"

Rutoshi sighed. "A mistake on both our parts. You see, after the tournament two Wednesdays ago Ichigo encountered his first hollow and as such absorbed his first bunch of souls. The next morning he woke up and I was there, looking a bit different." Rutoshi changed to her tiny form which Tatsuki gushed over, but quickly changed back. "My ability to return to this form coincided with Ichigo reaching his soul threshold. Anyway, Ichigo was more concerned with my safety and left me with his younger sister most of the time and of course he didn't bring a third wheel to all of your little playdates. I was having too much fun with his sisters so we didn't get close like we should have. I should have been there Friday night… I'm sorry Tatsuki."

Tatsuki took a deep breath. "It's really not all your fault. Ichigo met a cool, and cute, NPC and did nothing about it. Let's just move forward and hopefully we'll find him some time soon. So, you talked about souls and thresholds? What's all that about?"

"Ichigo is a very unique individual, something he himself does not know so I can't tell you everything, but I can tell you this since the others that were he know it too. A hollow lives within Ichigo. It's not my place to say how that happened, but I can say it's why absorbing a hollow's souls is a part of the game. Remember what Soliania was talking about? How she felt your souls and how Ichigo's had a lot of darkness? That's the hollow within him. When the split between human and hollow was fifty-fifty Ichigo would have to do battle with the hollow within him. Given the danger that he posed he was sent to Hueco Mundo. No matter how things turned out, Ichigo would gain many hollow-like abilities, hence, once again, my presence. Plans gone awry aside, you're in a similar situation, except, there's no hollow within you. So once you reach to threshold you'll be gaining a lot of abilities. It's not for free of course."

Tatsuki's hopes were dashed as quickly as they rose. 'Of course there's a cost.' she mentally lamented.

"You will, for all intents and purposes, be half hollow. So, you'll hunger for souls. A new bar would be added besides those of you health points and reiryoku points called quite simply hunger. It starts at zero and slowly begins to fill until it reaches 100 at which point you'll blackout and enter a feeding frenzy, eating everyone around you. If during a feeding frenzy you fail to consume any souls you will die and fully become a hollow. Another side effect would be that you would no longer absorb souls as you did before, instead you would need to physically eat them as a predator would their prey. Sound good?" Rutoshi ended cheekily.

"What the fuck… No that doesn't sound good, but would there be a large increase to my power overall? Would I be able to go into Hueco Mundo and save Ichigo?"

"This is a game so don't forget that nothing will be some sort of flat increase in power. You will gain a form that allows you to use your powers to their fullest potential. From there you can gain all sorts of new abilities which include the regeneration you just saw me use."

"So…. it's like super saiyan?"

"In a way, yes."

"Ok… there's a lot of bad shit, but if it can help me save Ichigo… I'll do it."

Rutoshi giggled happily as she hugged Tatsuki who was not prepared for it. "Oh this will be so much fun. You're pretty close to the fifty-fifty mark so if you did what you did with Yoruichi again you should hit it. It's not even midday on this beautiful Sunday so I suggest we get right to it."

"I couldn't agree more."

~GB~

An hour later found a slightly panting Tatsuki attempting to relax after defeating what she hoped was the last hollow left. When the black miasma finished absorbing into her body Tatsuki felt quite odd. There was a nauseous feeling deep in her stomach that seemed to be spreading all over her body, but she wouldn't throw up. She laid down completely and closed her eyes, but nothing seemed to help. Then Rutoshi showed up.

"Perfect! I know you feel extremely odd, but that's just part of the process. I'm sorry to say it will become painful very soon, so-" Rutoshi was interrupted by Tatsuki's agonized screams. "-brace yourself. Uhm… I'll just be over here…"

Rutoshi spent the next five minutes pretending Tatsuki was not writhing on the ground in agony as white bone-like structures began to cover various parts of her body. When she finally quieted down Rutoshi approached her to make sure she was alive. Luckily she was and Tatsuki was able to slowly get back up on her feet and marvel at her new form.

Both of her forearms were covered in a white bone structure that looked a lot like X's mega buster with her fingers poking out of the end in the form of claws. Her upper arms were bare and more armor appeared on her shoulders in the form of simple rounded pauldrons. Upon her head the bone had taken the form of a helmet with a large spike coming out of her forehead and there was even a see through visor covering her eyes and ending at her nose. Down her spine were spikes like a stegosaurus' though they did not overlap. The rest of her back was covered in more bone armor in a lattice structure making Rutoshi wonder if there was even a point of it being there. Tatsuki's torso was covered with a corset like bone structure that connected directly to the lattice on her back. Her thighs were left bare and her shins were covered in armor much like the ones covering her forearms. Finally, her feet looked less like a human's as they ended in four large pointed claws.

"Huh… I expected something more… animalistic." Rutoshi said. "But you look really good, check out the description."

Though she was not fully recovered Tatsuki was definitely curious about her new form. "Uhm… can I get a description game?"

 **La Bestia De Fuego Lvl. 1**

 **The Bestia De Fuego is designed specifically to complement your preference for melee combat starting off with the fact that all of your melee attacks will scale with both strength and dexterity. Your armor functions exactly as it should and even the exposed part of your body get a small damage reduction. If you look at the ends of your forearms and shins you'll notice small slots in the armor. From there you can secrete an oil that ignites giving your attacks fire damage. You will not take damage from the fire though there is a limited supply, think of it as another bodily function. The levels designated to this form are not levels in the traditional sense, instead think of them as evolutionary thresholds. Every time you hit level 100 you will be given several choices as to how you wish to evolve your form which include everything from seeing locations where you can critically strike an enemy to gaining a sort of ultimate attack. This is all independant from the abilities you may gain while using the form. Using your hollow form also increases the rate at which you gain Hunger. The current perks are as follows:**

 **Damage Reduction: 50% (armored) 10% (Unarmored)**

 **Damage Bonus: +10%**

 **Fire Damage: +1000 per strike**

 **Flight: 5 seconds when full**

 **Oil Amount: 1.2 Liters in each limb for 5 seconds of continuous use**

 **Horn Attack: Always crits and does piercing damage**

 **And maybe you can use those great souls for something…**

"Well that's… something. Sheesh. It can evolve and I can still gain abilities… wow. I don't know what to say, this is so amazing, it has so much potential. Let me guess… I'm going to have to beat hollows in order for this to evolve."

Rutoshi chuckled. "Nope. Think of it like Ichigo's Asauchi, it will always gain experience when you use it. Though you might need to walk around with hollow bait in case your hunger gets too high."

"Ugh, barf, don't remind me. That's nastiest thing ever… well the slaves were pretty bad too… still! It's nasty and it sucks that I have to physically devour hollows now."

"As I said I am available if you want to get rid of your… hollowing."

"Yeah… I know. Hey, even with all that grinding I haven't gotten a level, maybe we could do some more?"

"Come now, We have people waiting for us don't we? And don't you want to try and explain this to them?"

"I guess… alright let's head back."

~GB~

Turns out the pain he experienced when giving up 100 points of strength was not all that bad. At least then it had not felt like his skin and muscles were being ripped from his body in thin, but long strips. Then the space left behind was filled with molten lava until he was just a skeleton covered with lava. Ichigo could not tell you how long he had been experiencing this pain. It felt like an eternity had passed but he assumed that was not the case since he was still alive, unfortunately. When the pain stopped, Ichigo had been hoping it meant relief, wonderful, glorious, beautiful, relief, but twas not the case.

When he opened his eyes Ichigo worried he might be blind, after all, he could only see pure darkness and nothing else. Eventually that worried was washed away when he saw his hand waving in front of his face, though only barely. Standing up was difficult it took a lot of effort and his body still felt like it was on fire, it felt like his very soul was protesting his movements. Taking in his environment garnered almost no new information except for in the far distance there was a very faint light. Having nothing else to do Ichigo attempted to check his stats, but quickly realized that his commands did nothing. Before he could fall into a panicked state a very odd text box appeared, rather than the typically vibrant blue it was a deep, almost blood like, red.

 **No no no. You don't get to do that anymore.**

Ichigo sputtered in indignation. "What the hell are you talking about? Am I not playing the game anymore?"

 **Not quite. Think of it as a different sort of game.**

"How the hell does that work? I thought the point was that my life was an RPG?"

 **The rules are different now, why don't you head over to the light, we'll talk later.**

Ichigo's eyes were twitching in barely concealed rage. First the pain and now the exhaustion and confusion. He was so damned tired he was genuinely worried about his ability to walk the necessary distance. Nevertheless he had no choices, so Ichigo walked.

~GB~

 **AN: A bit short, but I can honestly say I liked where I ended it and you readers can expect the next chapter to be mostly about Ichigo and his… fun… time. It's not going to be a fun time.**

 **Anyway, tell me what you thought. I apologize for the lateness, I almost went to college, but I've pushed it off until the winter… just cuz. Nah I was lazy and did things too late, don't be like me kids, do things early.**

 **But that leads me to another important note, I will be starting work again come hell or high water so that has the possibility of cutting down my writing time a lot, but we'll have to see how things go. When winter comes around and I'm a full time student** _ **and**_ **worker you can expect a serious drop in update time. Like… my main two stories becoming once a month and everything else getting shelved. We'll have to see how things go, but know that like everything else no story of mine is every dead, just taking a long nap.**

 **Expect another Might and Magic chapter sometime soon and maybe a Luffy's New Game Plus.**


	18. Forest of Menos

**AN: It's a bit unfair, ok, very unfair to those who want things to be kept the same, but I'm already starting this just a day after putting up the poll. Fact is that the minimalistic approach had been the original idea from the very beginning of the fic. Hueco Mundo was to be hard as fuck and a vehicle for time-skips. It was also meant to change things to a very Dark-Souls-like game. So I'm going through with the rewrite.**

 **Everything should be explained in the game, but we'll see if I feel the need to add anything at the bottom AN. The beginning is essentially the same so you can skip down to the change descriptions as that is where the big stuff is.**

 **Little lore bit. It's never decisively said in canon how long the Espada had been under the leadership of Aizen and how long he had been using his incomplete hogyoku to make Arrancars. Going off of what Nnoitra says when he and Nel fight it has been a few years at the minimum. As such I'm going to go ahead and say that Ichigo won't be meeting any familiar faces until he comes into contact with the Espada since it's safe to assume they're all already part of Aizen's army. AS SUCH, fair warning for an upcoming OC or OCs, I'll have to see how things go.**

~GB~

Chapter 17 Summary: Kisuke goes to the Kurosaki house to tell Isshin about Ichigo's disappearance. When Isshin tries to tell his little girls about it we learn that Rutoshi was a created to assist Ichigo with his upcoming trials, but they neglected to hang out. Sunday morning Isshin brings Rutoshi to Kisuke's shop where she reveals her true form and explains her purpose. She then tells Tatsuki about her upcoming transformation which they set out to do. The transformation is pretty cool. Then we see Ichigo all alone, enshrouded in a darkness, where he learns the game has changed.

~GB~

Chapter 18: Forest of Menos

Ichigo did not have to walk long before he discovered a mostly black figure crouched in front of a pure white fire. Immediately Ichigo was on guard. Who was this guy? How did he get here? Where was here? And lastly, why did he have his Asauchi?

As Ichigo pondered the figure stood up to its full height, rivaling Chad, and turned to look at him. His face caused Ichigo to enter a defensive stance. Whoever this was it was clearly a hollow and, besides Rutoshi, Ichigo had never met a friendly hollow. Though he had also never met a hollow that looked so much like a man.

The hollow spoke, his voice deep and raspy, and Ichigo felt like it was grating his very soul.

"Ah. My host graces me with his presence. I must thank you Kurosaki, you have made me-" the hollow interrupted himself by unleashing a massive burst of reiatsu that nearly brought Ichigo to his knees, breaking the defensive stance he had been holding. "-quite powerful."

Before he could collect himself the hollow flew up into the air on wings Ichigo had not known it had and fired a massive laser beam of pure reiatsu at him. He tried to dodge, but he could not do so quickly enough and the beam hit his left leg full on.

The pain was excruciating. It was like his leg was on fire, but not just his skin. Ichigo felt like his soul was on fire. 'There it is again.' Ichigo thought despite the pain. 'My very soul is being affected. Why?'

Ichigo would not have any more time to think as the hollow dive bombed him. Its claws were outstretched as if to skewer him. This time Ichigo was able to do something and brought up his asauchi to block the attack. The impact was immense and sent Ichigo flying back, but he held onto his sword.

Struggling a bit thanks to the persistent pain in his left leg Ichigo stood up and used his asauchi as a makeshift cane.

"Alright, I get it, you're really strong. The fuck that gotta do with me?"

The hollow simply shook his head in disappointment. "Poor child, you must be going deaf."

Instead of elaborating as Ichigo hoped it would the hollow simply dashed towards him and struck with an overhead swing. This time Ichigo caught the attack with his own hand and blocked the hollow's other attack, a "sneaky" punch to the gut, with his sword. With that, he finally drew blood.

The hollow screamed in pain as it held its hand which had been split in half all the way to the wrist. Unfortunately, the screams did not last long enough for Ichigo to take advantage of its distraction since the hand quickly stitched itself back together as if nothing had happened.

"Hmph, I see you are a capable combatant. Good."

"Fuck you're creepy." 'And what the hell is going on? He accused me of being deaf. Why? What did he say?' A flash of inspiration came to him while he blocked another attack from his opponent. 'I'm so stupid! The first thing he said was that I am his host! He must be why I could absorb souls from hollows. All this time I've been making him stronger? Dammit!' His anger was his strength as Ichigo was able to throw his opponent off balance and deliver a deep gash across its chest.

This time the hollow did nothing as its wound healed, instead, it disappeared. It was then that Ichigo realized that **spiritual awareness** was not doing anything since he could not sense his opponent. The sudden blow to the back of his skull sent him sprawling to the ground, though once again Ichigo kept a tight hold on his sword. Before he could get up a kick to his side sent him flying several meters and Ichigo could not stop the grunt of pain he let out.

When he got to his feet Ichigo realized that he had landed next to the white fire. Filled with inspiration Ichigo held his ground was the hollow attacked once again. This time, instead of retaliating with an attack, Ichigo threw the hollow into the fire. The result was… encouraging.

The moment it came into contact with the fire the hollow let out an ungodly screech of agonizing pain. Immediately it unfurled its wings and desperately attempted to maneuver itself away from the offending flame. Given that it had been heading towards the ground already the hollow merely caused itself to land further away from Ichigo than the boy had suspected. Though its goal had been attained and it had been burned far less than Ichigo had hoped. Still, the information was vital.

"Hohoho… don't like the fire do ya buddy? What if I did this?"

Hoping against hope that something useful happened Ichigo stuck his asauchi into the white flame. The result was spectacular. The flame roared with life, growing from a simple campfire to a blazing inferno that you would have to give a wide berth in order to not get burned. When it died down Ichigo's asauchi was wreathed in the white flame and he nearly cried in relief when a very familiar style of text box appeared.

 **Soul Flame Asauchi**

"That's so badass."

Excitement bubbled in Ichigo's chest as he grasped his sword by its hilt and withdrew it from the fire. The sword was not hot, Hell, the fire was not hot, something Ichigo should have realized as odd when he first came close to it. But he forgave himself, after all, one could not be expected to be on their A-game in an unknown location fighting an unknown and very powerful enemy while not knowing why anything was happening.

"Now, I believe we were fighting."

By then the hollow had recovered somewhat, but its left buttock was clearly burned.

"No, only now have we begun fighting." It said before firing off another beam of reiatsu.

Moved by some unknown force Ichigo blocked the beam with his sword and found that it split down the middle leaving him perfectly safe.

~GB~

Despite his badass power-up, the fight remained relatively even between Ichigo and the hollow. In a turn of events that everyone anticipated the fight came to a close when both combatants were on their last leg… literally.

The wounds Ichigo dealt with his powered up sword were now as permanent as the hollow's attacks had been to him. So when he took off the bastard's left leg it was not coming back. Unfortunately, the hollow had already landed a cero cleanly on Ichigo's left arm completely vaporizing the appendage, good thing he was a righty.

The combatants faced each other, both exhausted, both missing numerous appendages and bearing painful scars all over their bodies. With a final yell from Ichigo and a roar from the hollow, they ran at each other one last time. The hollow aimed its arm at Ichigo's heart while the boy aimed his sword at the pulsing red mass in the middle of the hollow's chest.

"Thank Kami for the reach swords have." Ichigo said as he withdrew his burning asauchi from the hopefully dead hollow. The red mass had exploded which the fifteen-year-old took as a good sign.

The redhead then fell over onto his stomach and attempted to rest while he bled out. Or not. The pain had been excruciating, exactly what you would expect from losing an arm, and an eye, and a foot, and various hunks of flesh from your torso, but Ichigo did not feel faint from blood loss. As he pondered this a text box appeared.

 **So you won.**

"You bet your ass I did. Did you really think I would lose?"

 **Easily. If you had taken longer to figure out the hollow's weakness you would have been in a very bad position going into the real fight. Losing would not have been the end, but it would have been a serious setback.**

"Oh, shit. Really? Damn."

 **Indeed. Now I must ask, where are you?**

"My soul duh, I figured that out an hour ago."

 **Ok, then what was that fire?**

"My soul?" Ichigo responded, unsure.

 **Close, it is a representation of your inherent shinigami capabilities.**

"Alright. So what? I'm a shinigami now that I've defeated the hollow within me with my shinigami powers?"

 **Ha! No. You've gained access to your shinigami powers. They will now be available to you once you've regained your human form.**

"Ah shit. Does this have to do with all the pain I was in before I blacked out?"

 **I guess that intelligence stat is worth something after all. Look at the hollow. It hasn't disappeared yet because it has one last job to do.**

Ichigo took a second to figure out what the hell a dead body could possibly do. "Will I get some sweet loot?"

 **Not quite.**

Then the hollow slowly began to dissipate, its soul granules entering Ichigo as every hollow before had. Only this time he was actively getting healed during the absorption process and… he was changing. It didn't hurt this time, but it did feel absurdly odd. Like he was repeatedly being dipped in slime until it had covered every inch of his body and entered every pore available. The process took several minutes and when it was finished to say that Ichigo was alarmed would be the understatement of the century.

He was now on all fours, only it was not as awkward as such a position would normally feel, instead it felt perfectly natural. When Ichigo looked down, a process that took more effort than anticipated he was shocked to discover lizard-like feet instead of human hands. When he tried to question the game a roar came out instead.

 **Ha! You should see your dumb lizard face! Holy shit. Drink it in Ichigo!**

 **You're a hollow.**

Ichigo's reality became a pinprick of light before expanding into a sea of red. He stomped and thrashed and roared and in the process discovering that a long tail was attached to his backside until he no longer had the strength to do so. Then he collapsed onto the nonexistent black ground.

 **Finally done with your hissy fit? Good. If it hasn't been made clear you're a dragon. In the western style. The type of hollow you are is the basic bitch. And! You've got a new quest.**

 **Quest Alert!**

 **Top of the Food Chain: Right now you are the lowest form of hollow. As you can imagine that is not conducive to living a long life. So you need to get stronger and evolve. Only until you have reached the level of a Vasto Lorde will you be allowed to leave Hueco Mundo.**

 **Good Luck.**

 **Objective 1: Become a Gillian**

 **Bonus Objective: Stay in control**

 **Reward: Gillian Form**

 **Bonus Reward: A very short Gillian Form**

 **Final Objective: Become a Vasto Lorde**

 **Final Rewards: Going Home, ?**

'I don't even get to accept this huh? Fine.'

 **I'm glad you're so accepting of the situation because there are a couple more things to go over. Like I said before the game has changed.**

 **The Menu is gone. The only thing you have access to now is your stat page, the inventory, and the descriptions of the few abilities you still have.**

 **All of your abilities are gone save for spiritual awareness.**

 **You're gaining the inherent hollow abilities, specifically Cero and others in the future.**

 **You're getting one special ability called Dominance.**

 **[Active/Passive] Dominance Lvl. Max**

 **Your presence is awe-inspiring. Your aura fear-inducing. Your looks panty dropping.**

 **Passive Effects: Anything that is less than 10% of your level will unquestionably follow your orders. Even if that means getting eaten.**

 **Anything that has been defeated by the player will follow any orders.**

 **Active Effects: Let out a mighty roar. Anything that is 50% or less of your level will have to do a charisma check. If they lose they will unquestionably follow your orders. If they win they will flee in terror.**

 **Range: 10 meters or eye contact**

 **Cost: Free**

 **It's all being wiped clean. You're starting at level one. No perks, no titles, nothing.**

 **There is no more UI, but Hunger and Sanity are two new things you need to keep track off. Enjoying figuring that out.**

 **Consuming your enemies is the only way to gain souls which are replacing experience.**

 **You cannot level up at will, you must be in a safe location to do so.**

 **In the inventory, you will find some items you picked up a while ago. I suggest using them.**

 **In case it wasn't clear no more Observe means no more enemy information of any kind which includes the bits of information that floated above heads.**

 **There's no more Health regeneration, but consuming your enemies will heal you.**

 **I believe that is all. If there is more I'll tell you, but beyond this do not expect much contact.**

 **Oh… and have fun. ;)**

'Are you fucking ser-' but before Ichigo could finish his thought he blacked out.

~GB~

Ichigo came to some time later within a cave.

'Oh, Kami. I don't… fucking level one? Stats.'

 **Title: The Gamer**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Hollow**

 **Level: 1**

 **HP: 20/20**

 **RK: 40/40**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 1**

 **Vit: 1**

 **Dex: 1**

 **Int: 1**

 **Wis: 1**

 **Luck: 0**

 **Charm: 0**

 **Souls: 0/673**

 **Summary: Ichigo Kurosaki was once a normal boy who could see ghosts. Now he's a monster whose only prerogative is to consume souls! Fun!**

'Kami damn it all. I don't think I ever even fought a level one enemy. Everyone in school was at least level three. Freakin' Keigo could probably kill me if he wanted. At least the single point in intelligence isn't representative of my actual intelligence because that would suck.'

Ichigo then stood to his full height and spread his wings.

'At least I look intimidating. I should see what **Cero** 's deal is.'

 **[Active Combat] Cero Lvl. 1**

 **The player charges a concentrated ball of reiryoku before firing it like a laser. This ability does less damage the longer it travels.**

 **Cost: Variable**

 **Max Damage: RK Spent**

 **Max Damage Range: ((RK Spent)/10) feet**

 **Minimum Damage: 1**

 **Maximum Range: RK Spent in feet**

 **Charge Time: 0.1 seconds per RK spent - (Dex/10)**

'Hmm… not much now I suppose but in the future… Guess I'm going to be using this a lot.' Ichigo then dismissed the screen. 'Oh yeah! The game mentioned I had something in my inventory.'

When he opened it up Ichigo was surprised to find not one, not two, but four whole items!

 **Great Soul of The Boss**

 **Great Soul of Lord Krulp**

 **Soul of Seeker Crash**

 **Chain of the Damned**

'I totally forgot about these! And I guess I got that Seeker Crash one when I beat him, must have missed the notification what with the agonizing pain I was in and all.' Ichigo then tapped on the box containing the Great Soul of The Boss.

 **Great Soul of The Boss**

 **Soul of The Boss. A soul steeped in strength. Consume to gain a great number of souls or ? to ?. The Boss dominated his territory and slew many hunters, news of his death comes with much celebration.**

 **Consume?**

 **[Y/N]**

'Hmm… I'm not sure what the other thing that I can use these souls for is, but even if I did I think it's more important to get stronger right now. I'll consume them.' Mind made up Ichigo pressed the 'Y' button.

 **You have gained 25,000 souls**

'Woah how many levels is that?' After checking his stats and seeing he hadn't gotten any Ichigo remembered the change. 'Oh yeah. I have to manually level up. Might as well use the other souls I have available then.'

 **You have gained 10,000 souls**

 **You have gained 15,000 souls**

Leveling up manually was a bit odd since he had to choose what stats he wanted and then confirm his selection, but Ichigo took it in stride and in the end, he was level twenty-seven.

 **Title: The Gamer**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Hollow**

 **Level: 27**

 **HP: 1,000/1,000**

 **RK: 1,100/1,100**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 10**

 **Vit: 50**

 **Dex: 20**

 **Int: 10**

 **Wis: 10**

 **Luck: 10**

 **Charm: 25**

 **Souls: 1,444/4,900**

 **Summary: Ichigo Kurosaki was once a normal boy who could see ghosts. Now he's a monster whose only prerogative is to consume souls! Fun!**

'I might not be as strong or as fast as I was, but now I should live through everything and since RK scales with vitality, I have more than enough to use for **Ceros**. Also, **Dominance** will now have a better chance of working.'

Dismissing the screens Ichigo took a deep breath. 'Alright. I guess it's time to start hunting. I need to do that quest. Oh… how do I even become a Gillian?'

 **Consume 500 hollows, reach level 100, or consume a gillian**

'That's a lot of options, neat. It would be really nice to run into a gillian, but I'm sure I'll get absolutely destroyed if I do. Oh well. I've gotta go hunting!'

With everything finally set Ichigo stepped outside.

~GB~

Outside was not what Ichigo had expected.

He was in a forest of some sort? Looking to his left and right Ichigo found that his cave was one of the hundreds if not thousands that littered a massive wall of stone. He followed it to the end both to his left and his right and found that the wall simply vanished into darkness. Looking up did nothing as Ichigo found the world disappearing into darkness once again. Wherever he was in Hueco Mundo it was very dark and the obscenely massive trees, whose canopies Ichigo once again could not see, only added to the eerie vibe he was getting.

Using **spiritual awareness** Ichigo was shocked to find that there were hollows _everywhere_. The caves in the wall were full of them, the ground below was basically one big blanket of them, and even the trees had hollows moving up and down them.

'Well, at least it won't be too hard to finish the first objective. And thank kami my **spiritual awareness** level is so high.' The dragon thought. 'Let's check out a cave with only one inhabitant.'

Luckily one such cave was relatively close to Ichigo and he was able to reach the entrance without incident. The hollow inside seemed to be sleeping, giving Ichigo the perfect opportunity to try and measure his opponent using **spiritual awareness**. It wasn't foolproof of course, but comparing his own reiryoku reserves to his opponent's wouldn't be a bad way to figure out how strong they were.

Either way, his prey was weak in comparison to himself. Without preamble, Ichigo charged up a cero using 500 RK and sent it towards the other hollow's head. It was utterly vaporized.

'Great… now I have to…. Eat it.'

Ichigo had been expected to be disgusted by the idea, but he found himself almost anticipating it.

'I… don't like this.'

Despite his feelings on the matter, Ichigo knew he had no choice, so he approached the corpse and began eating. It was odd, to say the least. The texture fo the meat was odd, almost like tofu in that it seemed nonexistent. It did not taste bad per se, but it did not taste good either. If Ichigo had to guess he would say it was like what astronaut food had to taste like… tasteless.

When he got down to the bones Ichigo hesitated, did he really have to eat the bones? A quick look at his stats revealed that that might not be the case, but he had only gotten 200 or so souls.

'I should eat the bones… just to be safe.' While he would not admit it, Ichigo found himself enjoying his meal. And the bones were the cherry on top.

They were crunchy and light like chips, but almost more filling than the meat and blood he had consumed. Ichigo hadn't noticed any intestines, but he supposed a hollow's biology did not have to make any sort of sense.

At the end of his meal, Ichigo was pleasantly surprised to discover that his assumption had been correct. Eating the bones had gained him another fifty souls.

'Weird… but I'll take it. Anyway, that went very well. I might have been able to use less RK so I'll have to keep that in mind. It's nearly full now, I should see how I fair in an actual fight.'

A few meters over and down there was a cave with two hollows each with signatures that were closer to Ichigo in terms of strength. When he got to the cave Ichigo was not prepared for what he saw.

'Oh no. Oh. Eww. Oh, Kami. They're fucking. Oh. Eww. Oh.'

In classic Doggystyle position, two hollows were rutting like animals. The worst part was that Ichigo could not compare to anything to make it feel less weird. The hollows were still grotesque. The one on top had seven arms, one of which seemed to act like a tail, and a bulbous head with three huge, unblinking eyes. All of that was attached to a very fly-like body which was being held up by, you guessed it, four human-like legs. Ichigo could not see its dick, but he was sure it was equally disturbing.

The one getting fucked… well, perhaps Ichigo had been too quick to judge. The one on the bottom seemed more or less normal if any hollow could be called that. It looked more or less like a golden retriever except for the extra pair of legs and the overly huge maw. Something Ichigo could easily tell though was that the dog hollow did not seem to be enjoying itself, quite the opposite really. Its light fur was patchy and rivers of black blood ran down its sides. It was awesome thrashing violently against its captor, but its strength was lacking and it would tire often. All the while its four eyes would look around constantly and violently as if it doing so would somehow allow the hollow to escape.

'Ok, so hollows don't just fuck, they rape too. Damn it… now I'll feel bad if I kill her… it, don't know its gender yet.'

Shaking his head to get rid of such pointless thoughts Ichigo began charging another cero, this time using the maximum amount of RK possible. 98 seconds later a large, blood-red cero vaporized most of the torso of the bug like hollow.

'Welp, hope that doesn't affect the number of souls I can get.'

Ichigo looked at the hollow that was being raped. It had collapsed bonelessly onto the floor and seemed to be attempting to regain its breath. At the same time, the lower half of the bug hollow came sliding out of her and fell onto the ground as its two remaining legs gave out.

'Eww, and definitely a girl.'

 _Eat her_

'Fuck that. Now I've got voices in my head? Is this what the sanity meter is about? I hate this so much.'

Ichigo decided to distract himself with a meal and started eating what was left of the hollow. Unfortunately, it was not as bland as the previous hollow had been. It tasted exactly how Ichigo assumed flies did which was absolutely disgusting. At least the torso had that crunchy texture he had enjoyed so much, it made things a little more bearable. Halfway through his meal Ichigo was interrupted by the hollow he had just saved.

She was clearly scared for her life, but she managed to communicate by pointing with her head that she wanted to have some of the hollow Ichigo was suffering through. She was healing, but not as quickly as Ichigo would assume was normal for hollows.

'I shouldn't. I really shouldn't.' But he did. Ichigo nodded affirmatively and the dog-like hollow practically attacked the bug-like hollow's upper torso. 'Guess she was hungry.'

A few minutes later found the corpse of the bug-like hollow completely devoured by Ichigo and the dog-like hollow.

'Well that was pretty useless, I didn't get to actually fight anyone and I didn't get all of the experience out of it.' As he had feared he only netted 170 souls from the hollow. 'But was it because she ate some or was it because I vaporized half of his body? Whatever, I better go and find an actual fight.'

After a quick scan with **spiritual awareness,** Ichigo found a presence comparable to his own a little ways down the cliffside. It was when he had nearly arrived at his destination that he realized something.

'She's following me. She's actually following me. What the hell?'

Instead of confronting her Ichigo decided to continue, after all, she was not actually bothering him.

~GB~

The hollow Ichigo found was big, bigger than himself and Ichigo guessed that he was standing at least ten feet tall. The hollow was mostly spherical (it's a hollow version of Canonbolt only even more of a ball) with two arms and two short legs, but seemingly no head. It also seemed to have a layer of armor on various parts of its body, specifically on its back and arms. When he found it, it was in the process of consuming another hollow. Whatever the hollow had looked like in life was irrelevant as it was mostly crushed meat now.

'Hmm… I think my **cero** is the way to go from now on, just sneak up on someone and assassinate them with it. But even at full charge, this guy might survive, which is good right now.'

Mind made up Ichigo spent 1,000 RK on a cero and spent the 98 seconds he had to wait thinking.

'I need to accelerate the manner in which I consume hollows. It's been nearly an hour and I've only got three, well soon to be three hollows in my belly. Actually…' Ichigo started doing the math. 'Three in an hour, I don't know when or if I have to sleep, but let's assume I can hunt for at least sixteen hours that means I can get 48 hollows in a day. Round that number up and I can complete the quest in about ten days. Kami, ten days. Not counting the week I relaxed with Tatsuki I've really only been playing the game for about a week, nine days including the adventure in Kalimba with Soliania. I wonder how Soliania's doing. Hopefully, Tatsuki can visit a dungeon with her. Kami, I hope Tatsuki didn't freak out too much, no one deserves a heart attack at fifteen. I hope she's safe. And I hope she doesn't do anything crazy to try and get me. I mean… right now she'd be super helpful since she's so much stronger than me, but first, she'd have to find me and who knows what kind of crazy strong hollows are walking around out there!'

Charging complete the red cero blasted from Ichigo's mouth and collided with the large hollow. It then fell over, dead.

'What the hell? Seriously? How did it… am I getting a sneak attack bonus or something, because that shouldn't have killed that guy, I even aimed for an armored part of his body!'

Despite his complaints, Ichigo was not mad in the slightest. If he was dealing bonus damage for doing sneak attacks then his cero just became much stronger. It would also allow him to conserve RK since he could underestimate the amount required to kill his prey. The best part of this little experiment was that the hollow was completely whole! His cero had only left a scorch mark on the beasts back.

'There's a lot of hollow to eat, I better get to it.'

Unlike his previous meals, Ichigo attacked this one. If he had been human he would undoubtedly be kicked out of whatever establishment he was in eating in because his table manner was absolutely disgusting. Not that it mattered at that moment. He finished this meal even faster than his previous one, but he left a little bit of the creature's arm for his new companion.

He looked around for her and found her cowering near the entrance, clearly hesitant to enter. Ichigo picked up the leftover arm and brought it over to her before dropping it. The message was clear and Ichigo would swear until the day he dies that he saw genuine gratitude within the dog-like hollow's four eyes before she tore into her meal.

'Hanging out with her aside, Tatsuki was super useful while defending Karakura. If I get in a big fight I might need back up so it's for the best that I start making friends now.'

Once the hollow had completed her meal Ichigo used **spiritual awareness** to find more prey. When he had a lock on the location of a strong yet solitary hollow he set out towards it. After all, he still had a whole lot of hollows to eat.

~GB~

 **AN: So there it is. And honestly, I'm super happy with it. If you guys don't like Ichigo being stuck in a weak form don't worry about it, as his little thought train showed it should not take long and with the sneak attack discovery I might just skip the entire thing and get to the end since Ichigo will just go around sniping his victims.**

 **I hope you like Ichigo's new companion if you can remember a little detail from the last chapter then it is not a spoiler to say that you can expect… saucy things in the future. From the beginning, this story was going to be one to get raunchy before any of the other Gamer stories. King of the Pit would have been WAY ahead given its first sex scene happens halfway through chapter three but hey, that story lost steam hard. Maybe one day I'll return to it as it was inspired by one of my favorite Percy Jackson fanfics of all time. I might just cop out hardcore and rewrite it as a Gamer fic since it would totally work, but probably not.**

 **Uhh… leave a review? As always I appreciate your opinions so lay 'em on me!**

 **OI! I DON'T WANT THE SAME CRAP AS LAST TIME! SO IF YOU'RE A SKIMMER YOU BETTER GO BACK AND READ THE BOLD TEXT THAT DESCRIBES THE CHANGES BEFORE YOU COMPLAIN IN A REVIEW. And just in general, it really got to me that people had complaints about things that were explained in the story or author's note.**


	19. Sometimes Bigger is Better

**AN: Gosh, I really feel so much better about the rewrite than I did about the original chapter. I knew from the moment that I had finished the original chapter that it wasn't right. The changes felt half-assed and I knew something was missing. What was missing was my original plan. And to be honest I'm loving it. It was always about making Hueco Mundo bleak and painful like Dark Souls (a series I love). I hadn't realized until I finished writing the original chapter how utterly tired I was of constantly coming up with and keeping track of rules and abilities and character/enemy stats and the almost total lack of it from this new part of the story is great. If you loved all that, don't worry, Tatsuki is still going to deal with it and her side of the story is immensely important. Honestly, as far as plot goes Ichigo is almost pointless while Tatsuki's side will have everything that matters.**

 **Oh god, there's an upcoming scene… it's literally the first part of the chapter… I don't know how much y'all will like it. I mean… it's important and establishes relationships in a very distinct manner… if you don't like weird sexual tension skip the first scene.**

 **It's a legitimate concern of mine to not alienate the, what I'm sure is, very few female readers of my works. A harem is undoubtedly in the future of this fic, but if I can get a girl to be okay with it? I'll have peaked. Seriously.**

 **I'm writing this minutes after updating everything on which longtime readers of my stuff will know means I'm really fired up about writing this. If I don't contain myself these author's notes can go on forever, which some have, so I'll cut myself off now. There will be one more paragraph, but that's for the future when I've read reviews about the new chapter 18.**

 **OH! I'm not sure how it'll work, but in case people have missed it chapter 18 was rewritten, the beginning is the same so skip to the part where Ichigo becomes a hollow because if you don't know how this story has changed this chapter will utterly confuse you.**

~GB~

Chapter 18 Summary: Ichigo fought White in an epic grudge match inside of his soul, it was badass. After barely eking out a victory Ichigo finds himself transformed into a hollow. Not just that, but the Game has changed and now he's practically blind and weak as a kitten. Some old items show their faces, helping Ichigo out a lot and then he goes hunting. He face-rolls a couple of guys and in the process saves a rape victim! Yay. The chapter ends with Ichigo setting out to fight some more.

~GB~

Chapter 19: Sometimes Bigger is Better

As he had predicted it wasn't long before Ichigo completed his quest, twelve days was all it took which was great in Ichigo's mind given the setbacks he and his companion had experienced.

The first big event, in Ichigo's opinion, happened the first night, or… the first time he decided to rest. Ichigo had noticed that he was not really getting tired and he was interested in finding out if he didn't need rest at all, but his new companion had let out several obvious yawns and Ichigo was not willing to exhaust her. Not only that, but the voices in his head were becoming more frequent and noticeably louder, he hoped a good rest would help put a stop to it.

When they found a nice cave to rest, one that was a good distance away from any nearby hollows, the duo prepared to settle down for the night. Just as Ichigo had gotten comfortable curled up in a ball, he felt his companion rub up on him.

'What in the hell?' The confused teen asked himself.

The first touch had been almost ghostly and Ichigo wondered for a moment if it had even happened. So he chose to ignore it. The second time his companion walked by and rubbed up on him it was much firmer and unmistakable.

Ichigo shook his head. 'Nope. I'm not even going to look.'

The third time she got into his face and affectionately rubbed her head against his. She then walked her body along his head and Ichigo was unable to stop himself from following her tail as it tickled his nose. As such he was unable to avoid looking at her as she crouched down into the age-old position and presented herself.

 _Fuck her_

 _Fuck her_

 _Eat her_

 _Fuck her_ _ **then**_ _eat her_

Alarm bells were ringing in Ichigo's head. 'Hoooo this not ok.'

Deciding to put an end to the…

'Courtship? Seduction? Whatever she was doing it needed to stop.'

Ichigo got up and walked over to her. He repressed a shudder of disgust as she began quivering in anticipation. He then pushed against her side with is head and gently knocked her over. The dog-like hollow looked up at him in confusion and a little bit of fear. Incapable of speech Ichigo simply shook his head no… firmly. His companion simply whined pitifully in response.

The sound was so sad that a small, constantly horny part of Ichigo wanted to grant his companion her request. That small part of him was ruthlessly crushed by the much bigger part of Ichigo who wanted Tatsuki to be his first.

'I've got a girlfriend waiting for me at home. I don't even want to imagine what she would do to me if she knew I had spent my time here "sowing my wild oats."' Ichigo let out an involuntary shudder at the thought.

Unfortunately, his rejection did not do much to deter the dog-like hollow who spent more than an hour trying to get him to fuck her. Alas, Ichigo held strong and eventually she relented for a comfy spot curled up at his belly. If they weren't horrifying monsters the sight would have been adorable.

~GB~

The second day was marked by a single, odd event. A message, from the game.

 **Alert!**

 **The player, [Tatsuki Arisawa] is attempting to invite [Yoruichi Shihoin] to the game. Will you allow such an action?**

 **[Y/N]**

'Not even a question. If Tatsuki is inviting someone it must be for a good reason.' Ichigo reasoned as he tapped the 'Y' button before returning to his meal.

~GB~

On the third day of his new adventure, Ichigo had to deal with something he had been worried about since the first night, a surprise attack while he was sleeping. Losing an arm was not a process Ichigo liked to go through. The first time it had been vaporized by a cero, the pain was intense, but the naturally cauterized wound became numb quickly. This time his arms, or rather, his left hindquarter was ripped from his body. The pain was excruciating and the wound ached terribly, so much so that Ichigo had a serious problem concentrating and was unable to dodge the cero that hit his chest.

'Oh Kami.'

Ichigo no longer had a UI that displayed his health bar, but if he did he knew it would be quite low. Luckily, his companion chose that moment to justify her presence. The duo had kept to the comfortable sleeping arrangement and Ichigo reaffirmed his lost title of protector by unconsciously positioning his back to the cave entrances. As such the hollow that attacked them had been totally unaware of the dog-like hollow.

Her surprise attack was extremely successful at disarming their opponent, literally. Within seconds the hollow was dead at her feet, completely unprepared for her furious assault. The win was a serious morale booster for the hollow as she had been doubting her value to her leader.

He did not want to fuck her, which she was still trying to wrap her head around, and she knew she was much weaker than him so her usefulness in a battle was questionable at best. She had barely realized it, but those scraps he had been giving her were doing a lot. After all, she had been eating much more in the last two days than she could ever remember doing so before, an increase of power made sense. Still, it was nice to see concrete evidence of the fact.

When she dragged the body to her leader it made her feel much safer to see him heal as he gorged upon the kind of small body. For Ichigo, growing his limb back as he ate was an odd, but very welcome sensation. When he finished healing he was very pleased to see more than half of the hollow remained. Startling his companion Ichigo pushed the body back towards her, a clear invitation to eat. She did not need any more prompting, the dog-like hollow attacked the body with a viciousness that rivaled Ichigo's own.

'This is good, no, this is great. I was worried she'd become a burden, but she actually just saved my ass! Wait! I wonder if… Party.'

Nothing came up.

'Damn. Maybe… Invite Dog Chick Hollow Person. Right there. The one right in front of me.'

Said Dog Chick Hollow Person let out a startled yelp.

'Hell, yes! Thanks, Game.'

 **Not so fast. The rules aren't changing. You still must eat to gain souls, you can't just freely share. Think of this as putting a definitive name to your little group.**

'Fine, at least I can see her stats right?'

 **...Yes.**

'Sweet, but first I gotta make sure she doesn't freak out.'

It took some spotty head gestures and almost half an hour, but eventually, Ichigo got her to accept the invite. The second she did he called up her stats.

 **Title: NA**

 **Name: ?**

 **Race: Hollow**

 **Level: 20**

 **HP: 400/400**

 **RK: 500/500**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 20**

 **Vit: 20**

 **Dex: 20**

 **Int: 5**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Luck: 10**

 **Charm: 20**

 **XP: 578/2,857**

 **Summary: ?**

'Well… that wasn't helpful. I guess she doesn't know much about herself then. She doesn't even know her own name. Not that it matters right now, neither of us can talk. At least now I can direct where her stats go. Maybe I'll jack up her strength and dexterity, it'll make us a really well-balanced team.'

They took things a bit easier that day, only preying on six hollows, but Ichigo did not mind, he had gained a whole lot more than just souls.

~GB~

The next big event was not so much an event as it was a decision. Ichigo started wearing the Chain of the Damned. The second he took the item out of storage his nameless companion started freaking out. Not violently, rather she treated the item as though it were an atomic bomb waiting to go off. It was dangerous, but Ichigo already knew that.

'The way I've been taking people out I really don't have to worry about ever taking damage and I'll make sure to take it off before sleeping.' he reasoned.

The choice immediately started paying dividends. Ichigo was nearly euphoric as he watched himself gain a level from a single hollow kill. He did not know why the previous strength requirement of 150 was gone, but he guessed it had to do with the fact that he was now a hollow as opposed to a human. Either way, he was loving it.

It still wasn't enough to make the goal of hitting level 100 easier than eating 500 hollows given how his prey was probably not very high leveled, but it would certainly get him close by the time he transformed into a gillian.

He did offer it to is companion once when they encountered a weak hollow she could easily take out, but her rejection was almost violent. Apparently the time Ichigo had spent wearing it had done nothing to reduce her wariness of the object, which was unfortunate. Ichigo needed her to be strong in the future, there was no telling what they would run into.

~GB~

Once again ichigo received the odd screen. This time he recognized the name.

 **Alert!**

 **The player, [Tatsuki Arisawa] is attempting to invite [Orihime Inoue] to the game. Will you allow such an action?**

 **[Y/N]**

'Oh… well… I didn't expect that. Of course I'll let her join. I guess it just feels weird to not be there for something like this.' Ichigo thought as he tapped the 'Y' button.

~GB~

Ichigo had not been prepared for the screen he received the day he completed the quest. He knew it was close of course, sort of a gut feeling he could not explain, but after settling into the odd pattern of traveling along the cave walls, hunting hollows, and sleeping he genuinely felt… interrupted. In the course of the two weeks he had been in Hueco Mundo, Ichigo had gotten used to the idea of staying there. He had begun to feel comfortable.

'Well… maybe not comfortable, I still have these voices in my head, but they seem to go away when I sleep or think of my family and Tatsuki, so I really can't complain. Either way, I'm getting to the next step.'

 **500 hollows have been consumed!**

 **Congratulations on completing the main objective and the bonus objective!**

 **Your evolution has begun.**

It was not painful this time, something Ichigo appreciated greatly, but it was disorienting. Ichigo suddenly went from being ten or so feet away from the ground to nearly ten meters! He had to actually wave his arms around to keep his balance thanks to the vertigo he was feeling.

'Oh, I've got arms. Nice.' Feeling himself up he found that he probably looked like the few gillians he had fought before did. 'Still gotta tail under there, that's nice I guess, I don't think I've ever seen a gillian with a tail before. Oh, and the chain grew with me… it actually looks kind of cool.'

Even though he could not see it, his mask was also distinct from a typical gillian's. He had two horns jutting from his forehead and curling back above his head at hash right angles. His eyes were extremely slanted and his teeth were large and overlapping like an anglerfish, only much thicker. He also had no nose.

Then Ichigo registered a loud barking that was coming from down near his feet. 'Oh shit! Dog-chan!'

Dog-chan as Ichigo had so affectionately dubbed her was freaking out at her leader's transformation. Sure, she instinctively knew it was the next step in their evolution, even though she felt that he had not done it right, but what mattered was the fact that her leader no longer looked the same! What if he acted differently? And now that he was so big and strong… what if he did not need her anymore?

Ichigo reached down and picked up Dog-chan in one of his massive hands and held her up to his face. She was shaking in fear which made Ichigo feel sick to his stomach, so too assuage her fears he used his other hand, just one finger, and pet her gently as he could. This seemed to work and Ichigo was able to return her to the ground without incident. It was then that he noticed a new text box.

 **Objective Two: Consume 100 Gillians**

 **Bonus Objective: Do it in a month**

 **Reward: Evolve into an Adjuchas**

 **Bonus Reward: Gain a new ability**

'Hmm, I only have a month to get the bonus? I guess that means I have to enter the forest proper. I should also level up just to be safe.'

The hollow that got Ichigo to the goal of 500 hollows had been wandering around just outside fo the caves so he had to find somewhere safe. This task was made much more difficult given his new, massive size, but Ichigo had no choice in the matter.

It took most of the day much to Ichigo's frustration, but eventually, the duo found a cave big enough and deep enough that Ichigo could hide in and level up. He could barely contain his excitement when he opened his stat men since he had purposefully not leveled himself up since starting his little adventure in Hueco Mundo.

 **Title: The Gamer**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Hollow (Gillian)**

 **Level: 87**

 **HP: 1,000/1,000**

 **RK: 1,200/1,200**

 **Stats 300**

 **Str: 10 +**

 **Vit: 50 +**

 **Dex: 20 +**

 **Int: 10 +**

 **Wis: 10 +**

 **Luck: 10 +**

 **Charm: 25 +**

 **Souls: 2,396/45,723**

'Holy crap that's a lot, it's good to know that it wouldn't have been too long before I completed the objective by reaching level 100. But now I've got options. We're going to be fighting gillians so I don't know if I even want Dog-chan to be around since she's only level… 42. I've got a couple of options. I could dump points into my physical stats so that I can effectively fight in close quarters or I can keep jacking up vitality so that I can infinitely spam my **ceros** and probably never die. Let me check…'

 **[Active Combat] Cero Lvl. 52**

 **The player charges a concentrated ball of reiryoku before firing it like a laser. This ability does less damage the longer it travels.**

 **Cost: Variable**

 **Max Damage: (RK Spent)*5**

 **Max Damage Range: ((RK Spent)/5) feet**

 **Minimum Damage: 500**

 **Maximum Range: (RK Spent in feet)*5**

 **Charge Time: 0.01 seconds per RK spent - (Dex/5)**

'Yeah, my **cero** has leveled up a few times, so I don't have to worry about the RK spent as much as before… And there's no way **Dominance** will work on the gillians since they'll probably be around level 100 or higher so I don't really have to put anything into charisma. Decisions, decisions.'

There was a lot more internal debate, but eventually, Ichigo figured out what he wanted to do.

 **Title: The Gamer**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Hollow (Gillian)**

 **Level: 87**

 **HP: 4,000/4,000**

 **RK: 4,200/4,200**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 50**

 **Vit: 200**

 **Dex: 100**

 **Int: 10**

 **Wis: 10**

 **Luck: 40**

 **Charm: 25**

 **Souls: 2,396/45,723**

'Awesome, I can punch if I have to, I have more health and RK and the dex boost will let me fire my **ceros** faster. And a little luck goes a long way. It does suck that I'm not getting any perks for reaching 100 in a stat though, I had really hoped I would… oh well.'

Now that he had finished his level-up Ichigo expanded his **spiritual awareness** to its limit and searched signatures that felt like gillians. It was absurdly easy to pick them out. They felt… wrong. Less like a single being and more like a couple hundred all smashed together and constantly fighting. A hive without a queen.

'Weird. The first problem, there aren't that many gillians around. The second problem, they seem to be only in the forest so we'll no longer have the easy protection of the caves. The third problem, the closest one is over a kilometer away. Ugh. No rest for the weary.'

Worried that his prey might move while he slept Ichigo decided to forego sleep to begin his hunt. After all, the sooner he finished his quest, the better.

~GB~

The first week was not so bad, actually, it was pretty good. The tried and true method of sneak attack **ceros** still worked like a charm on the gillians and the few normal hollows they came across were extremely easy pickings. By the end of the first week, Ichigo had consumed thirty gillians and Dog-chan had also evolved into a gillian!

The gillian hunting went off without a hitch. With the upgrades, his **cero** had gotten the move was becoming increasingly broken in Ichigo's opinion. It was difficult to sneak up on anything given that he was a ginormous gillian, but Ichigo no longer needed to rely on a sneak attack to take out his opponents.

He and Dog-chan had even stumbled on a small group of five gillians. At first, Ichigo had been worried about being outnumbered, but when his first cero took out two gillians at the same time such worries disappeared. He took some damage, a cero to his shoulder and a few nasty scratches to his torso, but Ichigo was able to ignore the pain and finish the job with a few more **ceros**. After the fight, he took a second to look at his health and was pleased to find that he had only taken about 500 points of damage. Vitality had truly been the correct decision.

This abundance of gillians had been the reason Dog-chan had evolved. At that point, the sixth day of the week by Ichigo's estimation, he had already eaten his quota of twenty-five gillians, so allowing Dog-chan to consume one all on her own, was hardly a big loss. He was practically giddy with excitement when her form started to shift.

While in the human world Ichigo had played Pokémon and it was amazing how comparable the feeling of watching Dog-chan evolve was to getting his Charmeleon to evolve into a Charizard was. He had been slightly worried that Dog-chan would be similar to normal gillians and feel all kinds of wrong, but one look at her mask was all it took to relieve Ichigo of his fears. Her mask was unique.

Two pointed ears that looked almost exactly like the ones she had before stuck out of the top of the mask. She still had six eyes and an oddly cute addition was a gap in her teeth that allowed her to constantly leave her tongue out waggling.

'Ok maybe that's a little creepy and disturbing, but it's still cute… if you squint.'

Ichigo had not been prepared for the hug he received when she finished her transformation but was grateful for it. Despite being able to sense that she was ok and seeing her unique mask, the hug was an indisputable sign that Dog-chan was still the oddly cute and horny hollow Ichigo had met three weeks ago. Horny being the key word since Ichigo had to physically pry her off of him when she began humping him.

'She really never stops…' Ichigo shook his head to hide his amusement. 'Better level her up though, wouldn't want her to be further behind than she already is now.'

After some finagling and sticking to his idea of making her a very effective physical fighter Ichigo was happy with the results.

 **Title: NA**

 **Name: ?**

 **Race: Hollow (Gillian)**

 **Level: 90**

 **HP: 2,400/2,400**

 **RK: 2,500/2,500**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 150**

 **Vit: 120**

 **Dex: 140**

 **Int: 5**

 **Wis: 5**

 **Luck: 10**

 **Charm: 20**

 **XP: 10,652/49,126**

 **Summary: ?**

~GB~

Towards the end of the second week, Ichigo received his second big scare. He and Dog-chan, Kami above he hoped to learn her real name sometime soon, had been hunting as per the usual when Ichigo sensed a very high spiritual power coming towards them. It was off-putting for several reasons.

One, in the near month, that Ichigo had been in Hueco Mundo he had always been the predator. Sometimes there would be a surprise attack here and there, but those were usually desperate and weak hollows who were not a real threat., which led to his second reason. Hichigo had always ben stronger. Sure, there had been hollows who had a higher amount of RK here and there, but those foes were avoided. There was no mistaking it, the powerful presence was coming towards them, and it was coming fast. And finally, Ichigo wasn't sure he could win even with the help of Dog-chan.

Ichigo's thought process was interrupted by the appearance of his enemy. A small hollow that seemed mostly humanoid in appearance. For a moment Ichigo thought it was a fluke until he remembered the adjuchas he had fought before being brought to Hueco Mundo. Any lingering doubt vanished when the hollow in question spoke.

"Hmm… So you two are the ones stirring up trouble in my territory. Never before have so many signatures disappeared so quickly or easily as they have been this past couple of weeks. I wasn't worried at first, but you, with the horns, you're pretty strong. I don't need any competition, so you've gotta-"

Ichigo interrupted the adjuchas with the strongest cero he could use without needing any time to charge. Luckily, said **cero** dealt a little under twenty thousand damage at this point. Unfortunately, ceros have a bit of a traveling time and the adjuchas Ichigo had been attacking was able to dodge most of the **cero** taking only a quarter of the potential damage. Still, it put the adjuchas onto the back leg.

"What the hell? What kind of power is this?" the now very scared adjuchas asked aloud. He would receive no answer as Dog-chan took the initiative and ripped him limb from limb.

In the end, the scare was not much of a scare and Ichigo learned that a single adjuchas was worth ten gillians.

'Neat.'

~GB~

Another important benchmark for Ichigo was the evolution of his **cero**. He knew it was coming for sure, but for it to actually happen was absolutely wonderful.

 **Congratulations you have reached the maximum level for your ability [Cero]**

 **[Active Combat] Cero Lvl. Max**

 **The player charges a concentrated ball of reiryoku before firing it like a laser. This ability does less damage the longer it travels.**

 **Cost: Variable**

 **Max Damage: (RK Spent)*10**

 **Max Damage Range: RK Spent in feet**

 **Minimum Damage: 1,000**

 **Maximum Range: (RK Spent in feet)*10**

 **Charge Time: 0.001 seconds per RK spent - Dex**

 **For doing so you have a couple of options.**

 **Evolve your Cero**

 **Your cero will evolve into something else. It will definitely be stronger and come with some special effects, but the level will be rest to one.**

 **Gain New Ceros in addition to your current Cero**

 **Your current cero will be rest to level 1 and you will gain new ceros that have special effects, though neither will ever be as strong as an evolved cero. Also, upon reaching the maximum level none of the abilities will evolve.**

 **Give your Cero a damage boost**

 **Give your cero a large boost in power and efficiency. No evolution or new abilities.**

'Pfft, **cero** is broken as is, I'll get the new ceros please.'

 **[Active Combat] Shotgun Cero Lvl. 1**

 **Shoot multiple ceros in a spread with a single cast! Useful for mowing down large groups of weaker enemies!**

 **Cost: Variable**

 **Max Damage: (RK Spent)/2**

 **Max Damage Range: (RK Spent)/20**

 **Minimum Damage: 1**

 **Max Range: (RK Spent)/2**

 **Number of Ceros: 2**

 **Cast Time: 1 second per RK Spent**

 **[Active Combat] Heat Seeking Cero Lvl. 1**

 **Will track down your enemies like a bloodhound. Well, not right now. The cero's ability to track will increase as you level up the ability. Good for those hard to hit enemies.**

 **Cost: Variable**

 **Max Damage: (RK Spent)/4**

 **Max Damage Range: (RK Spent)/10**

 **Minimum Damage: 1**

 **Max Range: RK Spent**

 **Cast Time: 1 second per RK Spent**

 **[Active Combat] Sniping Cero Lvl. 1**

 **A very small and concentrated cero that is equal in power to your typical cero. In exchange for a much longer charge time, this cero ignores ALL types of armor and damage reduction while also increasing the maximum damage range and increasing the minimum damage.**

 **Cost: Variable**

 **Max Damage: RK Spent**

 **Max Damage Range: RK Spent in feet**

 **Minimum Damage: RK Spent/10**

 **Maximum Range: (RK Spent in feet)*5**

 **Charge Time: 1 second per RK spent - (Dex/20)**

'Wow, definitely the correct choice. That **Sniping Cero** might have a ridiculously long charge time, but it'll go down with level ups and ignoring defense… that's crazy. This is awesome. But… I wonder what Dog-chan will get. I mean, she barely uses cero, instead, she attacks physically, which makes sense given the stats I gave her, but still… hopefully, martial arts become a thing again when we become adjuchas.'

~GB~

Nothing of note happened until the big change. The voices in Ichigo's head continued to get louder but resting seemed to do the trick and quieted them down. He was getting worried about the time limit of the bonus objective since he had completely lost track of time, but he hadn't gotten a notification saying he had failed it, so he held out hope.

He and Dog-chan had just finished off a rather large group of gillians that were being led by bull-like adjuchas when he got the notification. It was actually only the 27th day of the 30-day limit, but such information was irrelevant to Ichigo, he had done it!

 **Congratulations on completing the second objective as well as the bonus objective!**

 **Your evolution has begun**

The vertigo was not as extreme this time, but shrinking was still a bit disorienting. If Ichigo could see himself he would-

 **(Ok, so this is the same little blurb as last time. So I just learned as I was writing this that there is a bit of filler in the anime about Ichigo going full hollow in the Seireitei or something. Episode 338. And Holy Fuck Balls the design is perfect. When I was trying to figure out what to do for his Adjuchas form that design was very similar to what I was imagining. So google it, and keep that in mind as I adjust a few small details like removing the edgy edgelord shoulder spikes. And the color theme is the same throughout.)**

-notice that he once again had oddly angular horns on his head, but this time they were similar to a bull's and jutted out from the side of his head. He had spines running down his back all the way down to his tail and his hands and feet were now only four digits that ended as sharp claws. He had wings again, which he appreciated, and they seemed to be three times longer than he was wide.

The weirdest thing by far was the fact that Ichigo could now feel some hair on his head. It came out in the form of a mohawk and stretched all the way from the front to the back of his head.

Feeling the new hair Ichigo said. "I never really imagined myself as a Mohawk kind of guy." then he realized that he had spoken.

"Oh, sweet Kami yes! I can talk again! But… ugh. My voice sucks."

It was true, his voice did suck. It was extremely deep and gravely like he had woken up every morning for the past decade and gargled rocks every morning and night. His throat did not hurt, but there was also an odd raspiness to his voice that Ichigo could not explain. All in all, he sounded like a cheesy over the top villain. But that didn't matter to Ichigo, he could talk again!

Another screen had popped up while Ichigo had been adjusting to his new body.

 **Congratulations! You have learned a new ability!**

 **[Active Combat] Flamethrower Lvl. 1**

 **You spit hot fire… literally. This will be your signature ability, the "something special just for you." This ability can evolve multiple times and will branch off to give you access to more abilities that are similar, yet still, fire oriented.**

 **Cost: 100 RK per second**

 **Damage: (100 + Wis) Fire Damage per second**

 **Range: 5 feet**

 **Burn Chance: 5% per second**

"Oh… that's pretty awesome. Lots of room for growth and it's better in close range than my cero… I like it. And it gives me a reason to boost my wisdom stat."

 _Fuck yeah_

 _Super hot fire bitch_

 _Now our food can be crispy_

 _Cook the dog_

"I really don't appreciate this… Why are the voices back already? Don't tell me that it's going to get worse now that I'm an adjuchas. Ugh… better level myself up. I'll hold off until she evolves to level up Dog-chan."

 **Title: The Gamer**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Hollow (Adjuchas)**

 **Level: 163**

 **HP: 4,000/4,000**

 **RK: 4,200/4,200**

 **Stats 380**

 **Str: 50 +**

 **Vit: 200 +**

 **Dex: 100 +**

 **Int: 10 +**

 **Wis: 10 +**

 **Luck: 40 +**

 **Charm: 25 +**

 **Souls: 21,701/186,944**

"Holy shit, waiting to level up really makes it feel like my birthday and Christmas rolled into one holiday. What to do. I wanna level up wisdom for sure so I'll bump that to 100… gotta get my physical stats up, no excuse to be so low anymore. I hate my intelligence being so low despite knowing that it hasn't affected my real intelligence. Get charisma up so that I can effectively use **dominance** … and dump the rest into luck. I like it."

 **Title: The Gamer**

 **Name: Ichigo Kurosaki**

 **Race: Hollow (Adjuchas)**

 **Level: 163**

 **HP: 6,000/6,000**

 **RK: 8,000/8,000**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 100**

 **Vit: 300**

 **Dex: 150**

 **Int: 50**

 **Wis: 100**

 **Luck: 55**

 **Charm: 60**

 **Souls: 21,701/186,944**

"This is great. Now… what's my final objective."

 **Final Objective: Reach Level 300**

 **Bonus Objective: Do it within six months**

 **Reward: Evolve into a Vasto Lorde and Return Home**

 **Bonus Reward: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?**

"Damn… six months? Easy peasy." Turning to look at his still ginormous companion Ichigo yelled, "Dog-chan!" Luckily she recognized him, you never know with hollows. "Let's get out of this forest."

From what Ichigo could tell by stretching out his **spiritual awareness** to it's new maximum, the forest would not offer much more in terms of gaining levels, even with his badass chain. It was time to move on.

~GB~

 **AN: Man oh man. I had totally forgotten to close the poll on my profile, but given how only 124 of you voted, I'm going to go ahead and assume the majority of you guys were indifferent to the rewrite, so I don't feel bad that Keep it the Same got 73% of the vote.**

 **I did, in fact, start the chapter immediately after 18, but I went slowly with this one. Part of it was work and how it exhausts me, but I also took a lot of time to consider and reconsider how I wanted things to go. So unlike other times, I didn't just ditch this story for a while.**

 **It kind of breaks my heart that this story, despite being double the length of Might and Magic, is slightly less popular. I get it, the HP fandom is massive in comparison to the Bleach fandom, and for good reason, but still… ALSO! This story broke 1,000 faves a little while ago and that's a huge benchmark in my opinion. In general, if a story has over 1,000 faves and follows I'll consider it a good story that's worth a look. Not that every story with over 1,000 faves and follows** _ **is**_ **good… anyway, thank you guys so much, hope everyone sees this. I do write these things for a reason you know.**

 **So… how'd you like the chapter? Like always, I'm sure there were a million things I wanted to say here but totally forgot.**

 **OH! That omake I did is still totally canon, I just forgot to put it in 18 so I'll put it here.**

~OMAKE~

This is a canonical omake. Those of you who have read Goku the Gamer will know why.

This should have happened when Ichigo and Tatsuki decided to go out.

~GB~

 **Congratulations! You have reached Relationship Level 5 with [Tatsuki Arisawa]**

 **You've have earned the perk [Martial Arts Prodigy]**

 **Martial Arts Prodigy**

 **Martial Arts level up at a faster rate than normal.**

Ichigo was baffled by the screen. He didn't remember the game mentioning anything like that. On the couch, Tatsuki was also looking at a text box.

 **Congratulations! You have reached Relationship Level 5 with [Ichigo Kurosaki]**

 **You've have earned the perk [Gang Buster]**

 **Gang Buster**

 **Permanently deal 50% increased damage to gang members.**

"Well… that's new."

"I know, I don't even remember the game saying anything like this in the tutorial."

"Maybe it's a new mechanic?"

"Maybe. Especially since I'm level five with my family and I don't have perks from them."

"Hmm… It's probably to encourage us to expand our little club. More people at level five, more perks."

"That makes sense. I got a good perk from you after all. But I believe we were doing something else?"

"Yeah, you were heading out to the Meat Palace to get a reservation."

~GB~

 **AN: There we go, short and sweet. This was essentially a retcon since it was something I was supposed to do. Don't expect omakes to become a regular thing.**

 **Leave a review. Tell me what you thought. I'm sorry for everyone who tried and failed to review because doesn't allow reviews to go onto chapter that has already been reviewed even if the chapter has been re-uploaded or deleted and then re-uploaded. SO, some people still won't be able to review this chapter if they reviewed the AN chapter which was technically chapter 19. Oh well, that's ok. Hit me up with a PM, I'm always down to receive them. And I'm just going to say this every time from now on, but please guests, make an account so that I can respond to your reviews, and if you're a member who wanted to leave more than one review, just PM like I said.**

 **I may or may not have purposefully added the invite scenes retroactively so that it wouldn't be spoiled in chapter 20.**

 **Thx ;)**


	20. Adventures in Ladyville

**AN: Hooooooo mama. Chapter 20… that's big. Kinda. But the fact that this story has 1,100+ favorites and 1,400+ follows is actually insane. Going into this in April of 2017 I would have NEVER anticipated such popularity. Sure, I've read my entire life and I have a pretty high bar for quality content. It's a bar that I make sure the stories that I write adhere to, but I didn't know so many others would agree! Wow. Just…. Wow. I've had over 7k unique visitors to all of my stories in the past month and we're only halfway done.**

 **This popularity is mind-boggling, but I think I'm most satisfied to say that I've done it my way. I've asked you reader's for your opinions a couple of times, but I've always gone for what I really wanted to do. The rewrite of 18 being the biggest example of that. But you guys have eaten it up every single time and I love it. I'm so happy.**

 **Back to "business", there's really no such thing in fanfiction, still nothing on the bible verse that was the title of chapter 17. Smh. Godless bastards the lot of ya'.**

 **Like almost every other time I'm starting this chapter minutes after finalizing and posting chapter 19, I hope you guys got notified about it since there had technically already been a chapter in the 19 slot… idk. If you are reading this chapter and are thinking: "He took so long to update and now chapter 20 already? How weird." Go back and read 18 and 19.**

 **I apologize again for those of you who couldn't review on those chapters since you had reviewed them before they were re-uploaded. Like I've said before, please PM me, I'm always down for it. Guests make accounts so we can talk, and AGAIN, if you want to leave more than one review don't leave a guest one, just PM me. I like responding to reviews even if it's just a simple thank you.**

 **Oh… and sorry if you wanted more Ichigo. Lol.**

~GB~

Chapter 19 Summary: Snapshots! Lots of little moments that go over Ichigo's time in Hueco Mundo like Dog-chan wanting to fuck and getting ambushed while they sleep. Ichigo invites Dog-chan to the party and wears a piece of jewelry that's pretty cool. His gillian form looks neat and it takes about a month to reach adjuchas. Dog-chan becomes a gillian too and the dup fight off an adjuchas. Cero is broken. Cero gets expanded upon. Ichigo becomes a cool adjuchas (google hollow Ichigo rage if you haven't plz) gets the last objective: Hitting level 300 within six months.

~GB~

Chapter 20: Adventures in Ladyville

At 3:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon Tatsuki returned to Urahara's shop, Rutoshi in tow, and explained her new form to everyone which included Tessai, Kisuke, and Yoruichi.

It was Kisuke who made the first connection. "So it's like Shikai and Bankai."

"Exactly." Rutoshi answered.

"Wait, what?" a very confused Tatsuki asked.

"An important part of being a shinigami is your connection to your Zanpakuto. Actually, I should back up." (Literally, just google Zanpakuto and read the Bleach wiki since this is just one massive lore dump for Tatsuki. Kisuke talks about everything from the transition of an Asauchi to a Zanpakuto to discovering Bankai release and everything in between. I was just copy-pasting the info hence why I put this little note instead. But not everything, he's not going to talk about Oetsu and other unknown or classified information.)

Tatsuki, who had just suffered through an hour-long lesson on Zanpakuto, could only say, "Oh."

Yoruichi, who had taken a nap in lieu of listening to Kisuke blather on about Zanpakuto, sensed that he had finished and woke up.

"Yeah, it's a lot to take in. Everything you just learned is something we shinigami learn over the course of our education at the academy. But I assume you can see the comparison between your new ability and the way a Zanpakuto evolves with Shikai and Bankai."

Tatsuki blinked. "Of course I do. Though, I think my thing will be more of a gradual incline between the two forms."

"That would be correct." Rutoshi helpfully added.

"Who cares? All the more reason to make sure you constantly train it up. And Kisuke, you better have a steady supply of hollow bait available for Tatsuki, we don't need her going feral on us."

Tatsuki blushed in embarrassment at the statement, but only a little, after all, it was the truth and she was going to ask Kisuke the same thing eventually.

"Of course Yoru-chan! Now, I'm sure you three would love to continue training, so I'll leave you to it. I'll have some bait prepared for you when you leave, alright Tatsuki?"

"Thanks, it means a lot."

"Of course." Kisuke bowed ostentatiously before leaving the training… dungeon.

'Oh yeah… is this even a dungeon?' Tatsuki wondered.

 **Totally. I didn't forget to tell you. Not at all.**

 **Urahara's Extra Special Training Ground!**

 **While you're here death is impossible and you get a 100% boost to learning any and all shinigami related abilities. Also, a 50% to anything else that is learned.**

'I might not be learning shinigami techniques, but my own perks coupled with the fifty percent boost to learning here is why I'm learning Hakuda so quickly, which is good since that it's absolutely broken.'

Tatsuki was brought out of her thoughts by Yoruichi. "C'mon now. No more standing around, Let's see the form. I want to spar with you and gauge its power."

Tatsuki smirked in confidence. "Are you sure you can keep up, you old hag? After all, I'm pretty strong in this new form." then she transformed.

"Hmph, you're a hundred years too young to act so confidently with me."

Before Tatsuki could react Yoruichi disappeared from her sight and landed a painful blow to on her back. Luckily, she hit the armored part, massively reducing the damage.

 **-3,200 HP**

Tatsuki's eyes bulged when she saw the damage she had received. It wasn't deadly, not by a long shot, but that was by far the most damage a single enemy had ever done to her, not to mention she did it with a single punch!

Slowly Tatsuki got to her feet and under her breath, she uttered, " **Limit Break**." Sure, it was a risky move considering how much damage Yoruichi could deal, but Tatsuki did not have to worry about dying. With doubled dexterity, Tatsuki was almost able to dodge, but she could not do so entirely.

 **-1,800 HP**

She tried her best, but it didn't amount to much. Yoruichi continued to chisel away at her health bar until it got dangerously low. The most insulting part was that the shinigami was very clearly aiming for her armor as to reduce the damage she was dealing. In a desperate attempt, Tatsuki began to swing wildly while trying to anticipate her opponent's movements. Like the spark that ignites a fire, Tatsuki was finally able to feel _something_ and punched into the air.

"GAH!" Yoruichi could not stop the cry of agony that exited her mouth as Tatsuki landed a solid, fire fueled blow to directly to her stomach. The elder woman tried to choke out some words as she looked at the teen with confused horror before her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she fell unconscious.

Tatsuki, tired and bloodied, simply blinked in surprise before looking at her fist in wonder. "Kami above." The teen still couldn't see Yoruichi's health bar due to the disparity between their levels. "Game… how much damage did I just do?"

 **5,233 points of damage**

 **3,181 of which were fire damage**

 **2,052 of which were blunt physical damage**

Rutoshi giggled at Tatsuki's shocked reaction.

"Though you may not be able to see it, Ms. Yoruichi does not have much in the way of health in comparison to some of her peers. She also didn't go all out on you, so don't get too confident now."

Still getting over the shock of what just happened Tatsuki simply said. "Uhh… yeah."

Rutoshi giggled again. "Listen, she'll be out for at least another minute and when she wakes up she'll need some serious R&R. As I said, I'm an NPC and for defeating Yoruichi in a one on one fight you've earned an ability. I'll teach it to you once we get her situated."

After a painfully awkward conversation with Kisuke, Tatsuki was able to get Yoruichi into a bed before returning to Rutoshi.

"Alright, the ability I'm going to teach you today is the Arrancar version of a shinigami technique called shunpo. It is called sonido. And it looks-"

Rutoshi suddenly disappeared and reappeared in different locations in the training dungeon. Every time she did there was a boom with a lingering static sound, it wasn't loud enough to be disruptive, but there was no way Tatsuki could ignore it. Then Rutoshi came to a stop right in front of her.

"-like that. If it wasn't already obvious this is a high-speed movement technique. And it's pretty easy. The reason why I'm able to teach you this is because you actually learned a skill while fighting Yoruichi. You learned **spiritual awareness**. So I need you to use that technique, on a small scale, just create a bubble of awareness around yourself."

"I guess I should have realized that when I felt Yoruichi coming towards me. **Spiritual awareness** … uhh, one meter?"

Like a blind person putting on corrective glasses for the first time, Tatsuki suddenly became aware of the world around her in that one meter bubble. She was alive, dark, tainted, but alive. The very air around her was alive, filled with specks of what she assumed to be reishi.

"Wow." the teen breathed.

"Amazing, I know. Now that you're aware of your reiryoku I want you to pool some at your feet and blow it up as you take a step."

"Is that safe?"

Rutoshi giggled. "No. But you won't figure it out any other way. Don't worry, Sonido is a very instinctual ability, you'll figure it out."

"...ok." Tatsuki answered, doubt thick in her voice.

Following the hollow girl's instructions, Tatsuki suddenly found herself flying through the sky uncontrollably. Below she could easily hear Rutoshi's mirth-filled laughter.

"Jeez, I barely registered my own movement." Tatsuki commented as she landed back onto the ground.

"It's something you have to get used to. It's also why **spiritual awareness** is so important. It helped you keep track of yourself and where you move. Try again with less RK and really emphasize the stepping forward aspect of it."

Two hilarity filled hours later, Tatsuki had a new ability.

 **[Active Utility] Sonido Lvl. 5**

 **Similar to the Shinigami's shunpo and the Quincy's hirenkyaku, the sonido is a speed movement technique. It… just lets you go places really quickly. Of course, there is a lot of use for it in combat, the trick is learning how.**

 **Cost per step: 50 RK**

 **Max Distance: 5 feet**

 **Speed: Fast. Dexterity… matters?**

"That's vague, but I get it. If I want to get faster I have to increase my dexterity as well as level up the ability."

"Yup!" Rutoshi answered peppily.

"Good to know."

In an amazing and convenient turn of events, Yoruichi had recently gotten out of bed after her two-hour nap and entered the training ground.

"Alright missy, you need to spill. How on earth were you able to deal that much damage to me? You took me out in a single blow, even with your strength that should have been impossible." the werecat asked demandingly.

Slightly sheepish and genuinely unsure how to explain that she got damage boosts from her abilities thanks to the fact that her life was now a game Tatsuki said, "Uhh… I… can hit hard?" The teen looked at Rutoshi, desperately asking for help with her eyes, but Rutoshi just smiled and shook her head 'no'.

Yoruichi's face scrunched in disgust up at the ridiculousness of the statement. "What do you take me for, an idiot?"

Tatsuki shook her head violently. "No of course not Ms. Yoruichi. It's just that-"

"Does it have anything to do with how oddly you were acting in the forest when we were training yesterday?" Yoruichi interrupted.

Tatsuki was thrown off by the question. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Well, when you changed, you took the suit out of nowhere, literally, as if you had a dimensional pocket or something. Then you were poking the air and muttering to yourself for a little bit. I don't think you're crazy. So what gives?"

"Wait, wait, wait, I can't just tell you stuff like that! It's a secret." Tatsuki protested.

"But does it have anything to with your strength?"

Tatsuki looked at Rutoshi once again who gave her no answer. "Yeah. It does."

"Then you need to tell me. It doesn't make sense to keep such big secrets from me when I'm the one training you and trying to increase your strength."

Tatsuki was sweating and looked to Rutoshi for support one last time. The girl offered none. Reaching a breaking point, and realizing there might be major benefits to bringing someone as old, wise, and powerful as Yoruichi into the fold Tatsuki broke down and confessed.

"Fine! Fine. A couple of weeks ago Ichigo woke up and discovered that his life was now a game. Later that week he brought me into the game. The game helps us get strong fast. I don't know why, just that it does. It's why I'm half hollow now, it's why Rutoshi exists, at all. It's how I got that armor you saw me wearing and why I utterly decimated the hollows. It's why… a lot of things frankly."

By the end of Tatsuki's little speech, Yoruichi's eyes were in danger of popping out of her skull. "Two weeks? You've only been doing all of this for two weeks? How… you already told me how. I want in."

"What?"

"You heard me, I want in. If you can grow that much in so little of a time this game must be the greatest power known to man. I want in. Believe it or not, there are things that can threaten me in this world. Hopefully, those threats never come to pass, but they're out there and I want to be prepared for them." Yoruichi took on a very defiant pose and met Tatsuki's stare with one of determination.

Once again Tatsuki looked to Rutoshi, still nothing. "Ugh, fine. Game. Invite… Yoruichi Shihoin."

 **Error!**

 **Such a request must first be confirmed with the Prime Gamer. Please standby as the message is sent.**

Tatsuki, bewildered by the screen, looked at Rutoshi in desperation. She finally answered her pleas.

"It's exactly as it says, such a request must be approved by Ichigo first. After all, you're just an invited gamer, if things ever went badly and Ichigo removed you from the party it wouldn't affect the game in the slightest."

"Oh."

Before she could think any more deeply on the subject another screen appeared.

 **Your request has been approved by the Prime Gamer.**

 **Yoruichi Shihoin has now been sent an invitation.**

Said women suddenly yelped when a screen appeared to her for the first time.

 **You have been invited to join Ichigo Kurosaki's party. Do you accept?**

 **[Y/N]**

After reading the screen she hesitantly tapped the 'Y' button causing the screen to disappear… and then nothing.

"...What?"

The simple question caused Tatsuki to laugh boisterously.

"What? Seriously. Hey!"

"I'm sorry. Look above our heads."

"What? Oh…"

 **Karate Queen**

 **Tatsuki Arisawa Lvl. 97**

 **Hollow Guide**

 **Rutoshi Lvl. Whatever is Convenient for a Dungeon**

"Wait, what about my own level. And why is your level so odd Rutoshi?"

"Wow, yeah. I hadn't even realized that yet." Tatsuki said as she noticed Rutoshi's nametag.

"Since I'm generated completely by the game, and am an available companion, it was decided that I would be available for any and all dungeon dives. My level will always be equal to the enemy average in a dungeon."

"What what about… nevermind. Yoruichi-san, the menu works on commands, so go ahead and say stats for me."

"Alright. Stats." She still could not help but startle slightly when the text box appeared before her. "It's going to be tough to get used to that."

 **Title: Shunpo Mistress**

 **Name: Yoruichi Shihoin**

 **Race: Soul**

 **Level: 300**

 **HP: 4,000/4,000**

 **RK: 5,000/5,000**

 **Stats**

 **Str: 400**

 **Vit: 200**

 **Dex: 500 + 200**

 **Int: 100**

 **Wis: 100**

 **Luck: 50**

 **Charm: 100**

 **XP: 8.45*10^16/6.92*10^20**

"Oooh." Tatsuki exclaimed in wonder after sidling up to Yoruichi to get a look at her stats.

"What?"

"Here, I'll show you mine so that we can compare."

 **Title: Karate Queen**

 **Name: Tatsuki Arisawa**

 **Race: Human-Hollow Hybrid**

 **Level: 97**

 **HP: 8,040/8,040**

 **RK: 6,020/6,020**

 **Stats:**

 **Str: 403**

 **Vit: 201**

 **Dex: 202**

 **Int: 100**

 **Wis: 100**

 **Luck: 30**

 **Charm: 50**

 **XP: 53,124,812/419,429,800**

"Ridiculous. How are you so lose to me in terms of physical stats when there is a 200 level difference between us?" The dark-skinned maiden asked.

"Well, there are a lot of perks to playing the game. One of them is that we can gain skill points without leveling up. Say we go to this cool gym I know about. There we can gain strength, vitality, and dexterity simply by leveling up. Oh, and I don't know how it works for high-level characters but-"

Tatsuki was interrupted by the sudden appearance of exactly what she was about to mention. The stat perks.

"This is not fair. You get extra power and abilities for increasing your power and abilities? That's ridiculous!"

"I know, but we take what we can get. I'm not sure why honestly, there doesn't seem to be any real threats of… any kind, but whatever. Either way, there's a couple easy picks you need, and it'll help with dealing with the fact that I just one shot you."

"Fine, lead the way."

The two women spent a few minutes poring over perks to pick and these were the ones they decided upon.

 **Herculean**

 **Beefy Girl**

 **Lightning Punch**

 **Harnessing the mighty power of the god Zeus you will smite your enemies!**

 **Learn Active Combat Ability [Lightning Punch]**

 **[Active Combat] Lightning Punch Lvl. 1**

 **Faster than the eye can see you will strike with a lightning enhanced punch. Be warned! This ability may cause tunnel vision.**

 **Cost: 1000 RK**

 **Charge Time: 5 seconds**

 **Damage: 500 Lightning + Dex Piercing**

 **Mercury's Blessing**

 **The great Roman god Mercury has shown you his favor. Move with a speed that none can compare to.**

 **All Dexterity gains are easier**

 **Mind Over Matter**

 **Great Sage**

 **Supreme Seductress**

 **Men and women the world over cannot hope to ignore you. Some cannot control themselves and fall before your great beauty to worship at your feet.**

 **Seduction attempts are twice as likely to succeed**

"I like it."

"Me too, but I don't know why you felt the need to get **Supreme Seductress**."

Yoruichi actually tittered. "Oh, I'm sure it'll be great fun."

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "Sure whatever. I'm beat and I'm hungry. Is this a good time to call it for the night ladies?"

Yoruichi took great joy in looking at the clock within her menu. "I agree. But let's not forget future training. I know we said when we started this that you can't just abandon your life to find Ichigo. So maybe we can make this a weekends thing?"

Tatsuki wanted to protest, but she had gone over the argument in her own head several times by then and simply sagged in acceptance. "I suppose. Not to mention I did already shirk my duties last week to uhh… spend time with Ichigo." she finished with a mild blush.

"Ho ho ho. I guess you already know why I went with the **Super Seductress** perk."

"No. Eww. I'm not even sure what you're trying to insinuate, but stop."

Yoruichi simply laughed in response before saying her final goodbyes and leaving the training area. When she was finally gone Tatsuki addressed the other female in the room.

"Man, you were really no help with all of that, huh?"

"Apologies Tatsuki, but I'm an NPC that is a direct product of that game, I _can't_ help you with important decisions."

"I guess if it's something you really can't help… so what's your deal, are you… less alive than Soliania or something?"

"No. I'm just acting this way for now."

Tatsuki blinked in surprise. "What? Why?"

Rutoshi smiled a big cheesy grin and said, "Because Ichi isn't here of course!"

Alarm bells began sounding off in Tatsuki's mind. 'No, no. She's just an NPC, nothing to worry about there… but, Soliania had also been pretty horny for Ichi. Ugh. _I'm_ his girlfriend.' Instead of voicing all of that Tatsuki simply narrowed her eyes at Rutoshia and said, "I see. Do you plan on returning to the Kurosaki house?"

"Yup, Karin and Yuzu are the best!" the Arrancar said; and to emphasize her point she returned to her tiny chibi form and flew away.

Tatsuki rubbed her eyes in disbelief. "And she can fly. Alrighty then. Better get home and get to sleep." Tatsuki's eyes bugged out when she finally registered why. "Oh Kami, I have to go back to school and try to act normal."

~GB~

Turns out that trying to act normal around your completely human friends in school when your new boyfriend and longtime/estranged friend is stranded in a world full of monsters and you have no good way of saving him and the only possible choice is to wait for an unknown amount of time for a completely new and untested device that _**MIGHT**_ be able to find him… is hard.

Things started off badly, the second she walked in through those boing double doors she was beset by her best friend Orihime Inoue.

"Hey, Tatsuki! How've you been? You know, it's super weird, but I feel like you've been avoiding me for this past week. You didn't return any of my calls and every time I tried to visit your mom said you either weren't home or busy. So I was just curious about what's been keeping you up?"

Tatsuki wanted to die.

"Ah well, there was this tournament thing and I had to help set it up, different from the thing we did last Wednesday and the week before that, and it just took up a lot of my time."

"Oh of course, how silly of me. For some crazy reason, I thought you might have started a secret relationship with Ichigo and were spending all of your time with him. After all, you went to and left the tournament with him. On an unrelated note, you smell like him." She commented as a dark aura rose up from around her.

Nevermind, she was already dead.

"You'd never lie to me would you Tatsuki?"A beautiful, yet terrifying smile split Orihime's face before the aura of darkness disappeared and she sagged into herself. "I get it. I do. I just wish… I just wish you had told me… or had given me a warning of some kind."

Morosely the busty teen turned to leave, but Tatsuki grabbed her shoulder. "Wait! Oh, Hime." Hesitantly she pulled the girl into a hug. Luckily, Orihime did not resist, though she did not reciprocate and simply buried her head into Tatsuki's chest. "Listen, there's a lot we need to talk about, but not here and not now. How about I visit today after school and clubs? Are- are you okay with that?"

Slightly muffled by Tatsuki's boobs Orihime answered, "I guess." before extracting herself. Instead of immediately going to her their class she stared suspiciously at the black haired teen while pouting a bit. "Hey… did your boobs get bigger?"

Tatsuki bushed hard at the question. 'Of course, she'd figure it out the second she touched them.' "Oh- uhm- ahh… just something else to tell you later?" She offered, silently praying that her best friend would take the attempt to stall and drop the subject.

Orihime narrowed her eyes even further before acquiescing. "Fine…" She then turned and walked to their class.

Once Orihime turned a corner Tatsuki let out a breath she had not realized she was holding. 'Oh Kami… what the hell am I going to tell her?' she wondered before heading to homeroom as well.

~GB~

The interaction with Orihime that morning wasn't the only thing Tatsuki had to deal with that day. Once she had gotten situated in homeroom the class started filling up, she liked to get there a bit early… most of that time she had been with Orihime but that had not happened for obvious reasons. Habits aside, Tatsuki quickly learned that humans now smelled _really_ good. Nothing amazing, but it was like the smell of fried chicken when you're really hungry, at that moment it's almost irresistible.

During third period Tatsuki caught herself unconsciously sniffing a fellow student as they walked by. 'Oh no. But I ate yesterday. Wait… I didn't eat anything.' A quick glance at the bars in her UI revealed that her hunger meter was getting high. It was at 76. 'Shit.'

Thinking quickly she raised her hand. "Ochi-sensei! I need to use the bathroom!"

Misato blinked at the sudden question. "Uhh, Arisawa-san. I haven't even done roll call. Can it wait for a few minutes?"

The black-haired girl shot a quick glance at the hunger bar. "Okay." A few minutes would not change anything.

And it didn't. Trying to be sneaky as possible Tatsuki went into the closest girl's bathroom and exited the school through a window. Using **limit break** Tatsuki sprinted across rooftops until she reached an empty park and broke a teeny-tiny piece of the hollow bait. For a few moments, nothing happened.

"Dammit, did that hat weirdo give me bunk bait?"

Then, a small garganta opened and a cautiously sniffing hollow crawled out. It was of decent size, around ten feet tall, and its body was covered in unique swirling designs. A quick look at its nametag revealed that it was a measly level thirty. Before the hollow could react Tatsuki blew apart its skull with a well-placed punch, causing its limp body to fall to the ground, unmoving.

Tatsuki looked at the body and grimaced in disgust. "Here goes nothing."

Deciding to start small Tatsuki ripped off one of its fingers and slowly put it into her mouth. It took a lot of hyping up, but eventually, she crunched down on the appendage and began chewing.

"Oh, Kami. This is disgusting."

Tatsuki did not make it a habit to eat out of a garbage can so she could not place the flavor, but she could definitely associate it with the smell of old, rotten food. After a lot of gagging she was eventually able to get it down.

"That's only a tiny piece. And I don't have a lot of time. If I'm gone for too long Orihime will get suspicious and it'll just be something else to add to the list of things that she plans to grill me on tonight."

Sucking it up the best she could, Tatsuki knelt at the hollow's stomach and began eating. She heard of the methods that food eating competitors use to eat faster. Of course, she did not know them well, but she applied one method that it looked like they used, go in face first and forget about anything else.

A minute later Tatsuki was over the moon to discover that the method worked brilliantly. In her effort to forget anything but eating, she allowed her hunger to take her over. She felt nothing as the hollow's large body quite literally was inhaled into her stomach.

"There's barely even an aftertaste. Maybe this won't be so bad." Looking at her hunger meter only affirmed her opinion. The meter had gone all the way down to zero. "Yes!" The teen cried in jubilation. "Back to class."

~GB~

When Tatsuki returned to her class she was inordinately pleased to discover she had only been gone for five minutes. A length of time that no one could be suspicious of. The rest of third period went off without incident, fourth period as well, but lunch period proved to be less forgiving.

The moment Tatsuki had paid for her lunch, she found herself cornered by one glasses-wearing nerd.

"Arisawa-san. If it is not too much of a bother, I would request that you come with me to the roof."

"Uhh, no? I'm not going anywhere with you, creepo."

When Tatsuki attempted to walk past the taller boy he tightly grabbed her elbow. Before she could turn around and deck him for touching her like that he spoke again.

"I would like to discuss why you feel like a hollow if that's not too much of an issue." he whispered.

Eyes widening in alarm Tatsuki shook herself free of his hold and rounded on him. "Fine. Let's go."

A minute of tense silence later found the two highschoolers alone on the roof.

"What do you want? Actually, how the fuck can you sense me like that and can tell that I feel like a hollow?"

"Hmm… I can sense your power, I assume that I do not pose any sort of threat to you. Fine, I am a Quincy a kind of human with special powers that can be used to eradicate hollows. I am also the last of my kind. Let me be clear, you feel _like_ a hollow. But the simple fact that you are standing here before me and look the way you do make it very clear that you are not fully hollow. I have never felt something like that before, you must understand your presence concerns me."

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "Well get over it. I'm the same person I've always been. I'm not going to tell you how this happened, but I will say that I've got it under control." Lunch still in hand and getting cold Tatsuki turned to leave only to be stopped by Uryuu's voice.

"Does it have anything to do with what happened Friday night? That was horrifying, the sheer number of hollows was something that I have never seen or experienced before. Can you tell me anything? And… does it have anything to do with why Kurosaki-san is not here today?"

Tatsuki mulled her response over in her head. 'Well, I'm pretty sure the game caused it. After all, from what Kisuke told me there should have been a bunch of shinigami swarming the place before we even finished wiping them out. But I can't say all that. And then… Ichigo…'

"In a way, it has to do with Friday. But I think it's safe to say something like that won't be happening again… at least, not any time soon." 'I hope.' "And yeah, it also has to do with why Ichigo's not here, but that has nothing to do with you. Just know that… he probably won't be around for a while." She could not stop her voice from cracking a bit at the end.

Uryuu looked out at the blue sky and struck a thinking pose. "I see. Thank you. But know that I'll never stop being wary of you. In the end, you still feel like a hollow."

Tatsuki rolled her eyes again as she left the roof. "Yeah, whatever. It's not like you can do anything about it." He mumbled under her breath.

Weird confrontation aside, the rest of Tatsuki's day was pretty normal. The only thing that got to her was the lack of anyone being worried about Ichigo. Not his best friend Chad, or Mizuiro who tended to walk to school with him, not even Keigo.

'Weird.'

Eventually, her meeting with the martial arts club ended and Tatsuki made her way to her best friend's house.

'Oh sweet Kami above, what the hell am I going to tell her?'

~GB~

 **AN: Alrighty. If it wasn't immediately obvious you can probably expect another chapter or two to be dedicated to Tatsuki's point of view, after all, a little more than an entire month passed on Ichigo's side of things and he doesn't have to deal with people like Tatsuki does.**

 **In general, the upcoming timeskips will probably have more to do with Tatsuki than it does with Ichigo. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to do with Ichigo, exploring Dog-chan, exploring Hueco Mundo, encountering the Espada. There's a whole lot to do. But Tatsuki has way more to do in comparison. She has to deal with the conquest mini-game in Ichigo's stead, she has to deal with more and more people being added to the game, helping them out and acclimating them to the new lifestyle, not to mention any random dungeons she runs into in day to day life.**

 **Honestly, I look forward to Tatsuki's side. I won't say who but obviously there will be several important additions to the party which will open up more POVs. Eventually, Tatsuki's side won't just be Tatsuki's side. But that's not for a little while.**

 **Also, I was super cheap about something and I purposefully kept something out of the previous chapter until this one was uploaded. So go glance at 19, the changes are extremely obvious, you can just scroll until you run into the anomaly.**

 **Sorry for the cheapness, wanted to keep the reveals under wraps.**

 **Uhh, like always tell me what you think. This chapter is a bit of a change to how I usually go about doing things and I liked it.**


	21. So many friends

**AN: Like always I'm jumping right into this chapter. Lots of things swirling in my mind. (like that means anything at this point. Shame me from six months ago)**

 **So… MAJOR FUCK UP. Not only does canon start in April/May (which I knew), but so does the school year. I assumed April first was the beginning of a new term. So, technically speaking Ichigo and all of his friends are still in junior high. Also, apparently high school isn't compulsory? I'm sure everyone does it, but there are undoubtedly people who don't.**

 **How to fix this?**

 **Uhh… pretend I never mentioned the characters as high schoolers and change the name of Karakura high school to Karakura junior high school. Cuz FUCK. Assumptions can fuck your whole day up.**

 **Sure, in America they'd still be in freshman year, but this doesn't take place in America! There's really no way I'm going to be able to go back and change everything. Maybe I'll do it someday, but goddam is that an annoying task that requires a lot of close reading and small, almost unimportant edits. UGH. I have to scrap every teacher reference too. There's a lot of menial shit involved. Why didn't I google this before?**

 **Not to mention other, small changes. For example, Uryuu is currently still 14 since his birthday is in November. I hate everything.**

 **Another important problem is that Orihime doesn't have a crush on Ichigo right now since they meet IN HIGHSCHOOL! Like… guys, this is a serious problem. What do I do? Do I double down on a Retcon and say that Canon starts a year later so that Ichigo and co. are in high school?**

 **Honestly…. That might be the way to go so that what I've written so far makes sense, but then there are some other things to consider. Sora's attack on Orihime happens about a month or two after she meets Ichigo and starts talking about him all the time which is what makes him turn into a hollow. So it would be odd for Orihime to still have her crush on Ichigo and to be in character and then Sora doesn't attack for almost six months.**

 **But now that I do make this change, I still have to go back and change every instance of Ichigo and Tatsuki being referred to as fifteen when they're now sixteen. Have I mentioned that I hate everything?**

 **IMPORTANT PLEASE READ**

 **If you read the above you already know, but I'll spell it out here. I'm fucking with time some more because the Japanese school year starts in April and thus in my story so far all the characters are still in junior high. Everything is being moved forward a year. Meaning: Ichigo and Tatsuki are sixteen and everyone else is also a year older… obviously. And… I think that's it. As such, the following… arc? Will make a lot more sense with that in mind.**

 **Also, weird detail, but Ichigo is two days older than Tatsuki.**

 **And if anyone is confused about time, this is about… a week and a half to two weeks after Ichigo became a Gamer. Halloween is soon. Also, consider Ichigo self-contained unless there is a specific event that affects both him and Tatsuki.**

 **4/26 Edit: A bunch of you guys caught my serious slip up about Soliania's eyes. I'll honestly say I had completely forgotten about it and I'm sorry. If there is ever a massive gap in time between updates I promise I'll make sure to reread everything before writing more. And what's weird is that I think I subconsciously remembered because I wrote most of her dialogue as if she had eyes…**

~GB~ 

Chapter 20 Summary: Tatsuki explains her powers to Kisuke and Yoruichi and gets an explanation on zanpakuto in exchange. She and Yoruichi fight and Tatsuki wins in only one punch, but she could have easily lost. After learning Sonido from Rutoshi Yoruichi wakes up demanding answers. Tatsuki succumbs and ends up letting her in on the game and inviting her to the party. The next day at school she has to deal with Orihime, her hunger, and Uryuu Ishida. What a day.

~GB~

Chapter 21: So many friends, but so little strawberries

Tatsuki stood at the door that led into the house of her best friend of almost seven years and thought about how she would lie to her.

She gave up quite quickly, the mere idea of premeditating this already horrible situation made her sick to her stomach. 'This high intelligence stat must work for something other than making school obscenely easy. I'll make it up as I go.' she thought to herself.

Steeling herself with a deep breath Tatsuki knocked. Immediately she could hear the all too familiar pitter-patter of Orihime's feet and a second later the door was opened.

"Tatsuki! You made it!" the sixteen-year-old red-headed girl remarked jubilantly.

"Of course I did. I promised didn't I?" Tatsuki responded sheepishly. After all, she had kind of left her best friend high and dry for an entire week.

"Yeah… you did. Well, come on in."

A short walk later found the two high-schoolers lounging comfortably by a small table within Orihime's living room. After a moment of awkward silence, Orihime asked the question.

"How'd you and Ichigo get together?"

"Well… after the first part of the tournament we promised to hang out and train together sometime soon. So that Saturday he came over and we started going over the basic katas since he hadn't really been practicing outside of the odd street fight he was in and… well… I got mad."

"You got mad? No… impossible." Orihime interrupted, her voice thick with sarcasm.

"Lay off… this was different. In the course of a couple of hours Ichigo achieved a level of mastery over each and every kata I taught him that would take your normal person weeks, if not months, of practice to get down. I'm telling you Orihime, given a few more hours he would know everything I did and… it just felt so unfair. I was so _angry_ , so I snapped at him… but that quickly turned into me spilling my guts. I don't really ever talk about this with… anyone, but you know how Ichigo and I used to be best friends when we were little right?"

"...Yeah?"

"Well, we drifted apart when his mom died. Ichigo he… he quit karate and he closed himself off to the world. He got it in his head that he needed to be an unbreakable pillar of support for his little sisters and dad and to do so he couldn't rely on anyone but himself. It broke my little heart." Tatsuki took a deep breath. "To keep this train of honesty going, my friendship with you was 100% about replacing the void Ichigo had left in my life. Obviously, that's not the case anymore, but it was then and I'm sorry if you think that makes our friendship any less genuine because it doesn't, I swear."

Orihime had this far-off look in her eye that Tatsuki could not put a name to, but the redhead did not say anything.

"Anyway, from then until a few weeks ago, we hadn't spoken more than a couple of words at a time to each other. You know, I used to lay awake at night sometimes wondering about what I could have done to make it better. Maybe I should have been more aggressive with my support, but I was nine and hindsight is 20/20. So all of that came out to him and you know what that idiot did?"

Equally stunned by the revelations and curious about the story Orihime simply shook her head negatively.

"He apologized. He apologized and told me that he wanted to be friends like we used to be. And… I don't know… all of a sudden… we kinda were? He probably hadn't realized it himself, but I think he missed having me as a friend just as much as I missed him. He played around like little kids before mom walked in on us looking like idiots. We ate sandwiches, he showed me this cool gym he found, and we went out to dinner. Honestly? It was a date. We spent that weekend together and met some interesting people… one of them kept pushing us towards a relationship and let's just say that by the end of that weekend neither of us were against the idea. He "formally," asked me to be his girlfriend that Sunday. So… yeah. That's how we got together." By the end, Tatsuki was blushing.

'Oh Kami, she's going to hate me. I just rubbed it in her face!'

She was hesitant to meet Orihime's gaze, but when she did she was surprised to find more amusement than anything else.

"That does sound like Kurosaki. I-" Orihime's breath caught in her throat before she scrunched up her face in a look of intense concentration. "I'm mad at you." She continued carefully, every word thought out. "Not because you "stole" Kurosaki. He's not mine. I'm mad because you doubted our friendship so much. That these last seven years would be so easily dismissed by a boy. You are my _best friend_. I love you. After Sora died-"

Orihime's eyes filled with unshed tears. She gulped audibly as she tried to calm down and continue talking, but her voice was still thick with emotion.

"After Sora died you and your mom did everything. I would not have made it on my own. I know it. As cheesy as it sounds, I owe you my life. It's not like my older brother being dead stopped people from trying to bully me when you weren't around. Our friendship and your mother's care is all I had. Not even my relatives could be bothered to care for me. And the less is said about my parents the better."

Orihime shook her head ruefully and allowed a few tears to leak out. That was the last straw for Tatsuki, she practically tackled her best friend with a hug which Orihime returned. The room was silent as the two girls held each other and allowed their emotions to mellow out.

Eventually, Orihime said, "The last thing to be said is that I know you're not telling me everything."

Tatsuki began to speak up but Orihime stopped her.

"Given what we just talked about, I'm sure it's a secret you don't want getting out, you don't have to tell me. Let's just go back to hanging out all the time. You can eat my delicious cooking and now we can gossip about how good of a kisser Ichigo is ok?

Tatsuki nearly busted a gut laughing.

"Fine. fine." The brunette answered as she wiped away a tear of mirth from her eye. "But I promise that I'll tell you eventually, besides it has to do with Ichigo going missing."

"Ichigo's missing!"

'Aww shit. It's only the first day back… even if it feels like it's been six months.' she mused.

"I didn't mean to say that, but yeah, Ichigo is missing. I promise! I'll tell you eventually, but just not right now. Ok?"

"Hmm… fine, but I don't like it. Now that that's all sorted… wanna watch some comedy?"

"Of course I do Orihime."

~GB~

Wednesday brought with it something Tatsuki had been dreading, the conquests. It'd been a little over a week and a half since they left Kalimba which in their time would be about four months. A lot could happen in that amount of time, but obviously not much had if she was only getting a prompt now.

 **Urgent Business with Felmere Fortress!**

 **A little over a month ago Felmere had its first proper caravan visit. It had been a simple merchant's caravan and the only reason they came was out of ignorance! After all, Krulp was a menace and had made it clear outsiders were not welcome in his lands over the last two centuries.**

 **Anyway, that caravan eventually reached a proper settlement and told them what they had learned. The truth, rumor, and gossip spread like wildfire and now an envoy from the nearest human kingdom has come.**

 **This will be a multi-stage event with the first choice being:**

 **Will you let him in?**

 **You have one hour…. Starting now.**

"Ah, shit! Thank kami above school's out. Game, can you bring me to the Abyss?"

 **Go to your private dojo.**

"Err… ok."

Sprinting home and practically jumping down the stairs to her dojo Tatsuki found an unexpected door frame attached to one of the walls. It was not a simple door frame either. It was thick and square made up of some sort of pitch-black rock engraved within indecipherable runes. Within the doorframe was a swirling mass of stars within an even deeper black void.

 **This is your Personal Abyss Entrance.**

"That's perfect." Steeling herself to step into something out of a sci-fi movie Tatsuki ran forward.

Utter nothingness and then from her left, she heard the distinct sound of Soliania's voice calling out to her. "Over her Tatsuki! What brings you to the Abyss?"

'Well, that was odd…' She thought to herself before shaking her head to clear away the thoughts. "The first conquest thing is happening! I need your help."

The elf let out a tinkling laugh. "Why are you so worried? I'm quite familiar with the act of running a castle, or did you forget?"

"Of course not, that's why I came! It's just… Ichigo's not around and this is the first one, I'm a little nervous."

"Just relax and come along, I have a portal to the master bedroom in the back of this cave."

"Why would we go to the master bedroom?"

"...You're adorable. We're about to meet an envoy from a king. You can't do so looking like… that."

Tatsuki paused to look down at what she was wearing. It was just her school uniform, which was a bit too tight around the chest for her liking, she had meant to buy a new one but kept forgetting. It took a second to realize what was wrong.

"Shit. I'm a dumbass. I guess you're going to "glow me up," Soli?"

"Err, I have no idea what you're talking about. But we must get you out of that boorish clothes and to something befitting the lady of a castle."

"That's what I- nevermind."

The duo stepped through a doorway filled with a swirling, glowing, green light and out into a simple, but large, stone room. Soliania directed Tatsuki to a massive oak wardrobe and opened it revealing an absolutely insane number of dresses. Most of the styles Tatsuki had never seen before and there seemed to be one of every color!

"Oh but Soliania, these are all way too big."

Which was true. These were all Soliania's old dresses and since she was a little over six feet tall her dresses would make Tatsuki look like a child playing dress-up with their mother's clothes.

"Not a problem. I'm rather fond of these dresses. What do you think I did the ten times I got pregnant? We elves do value our fashion. There are a few simple cosmetic spells I can use to fix the size." Soliania reached into the wardrobe and pulled out a stunning little fuschia number. "Here, slip this on."

"Uhh, right here?"

Soliania nodded.

"...in front of you?"

Soliania fixed her with the patented "mom look." "See here Tatsuki. I raised about thirty different girls from my daughters to my granddaughters and even a couple of my great-granddaughters. There is nothing that I have not seen and besides, you don't strike me as the type to wear dresses besides the one you had to wear at that ball my sister threw. So hop to it. Time is ticking."

That last comment drew Tatsuki's eye to the lower left-hand corner of her vision where a timer ticking down read 48:36.

"Oh! Ok."

Urgency squashed whatever sense of modesty Tatsuki had been clinging to as she quickly threw her school clothes into her inventory and slipped the dress on over her head.

"Uhm, Tatsuki, what on earth are you wearing?"

"Are you serious?"

"Quite."

"Uhh… do you know what a corset is?"

"A corset? A corset… a corset… ah! I believe some of my great-granddaughters wore something like that. Picked it up from one of the foreign merchant caravans I believe. If my memory serves it is a common undergarment for human women. Of course, I've never had any use for them." Soliania proceeded to bounce up and down to show exactly why her "sisters" had never needed support in their 750 years.

A dark and evil hatred burned in the pit of Tatsuki's stomach. "I see. Are you going to help me with this dress or not?"

Soliania laughed having sensed Tatsuki's resentment. With a few flicks of her wrist and a distinct blue and green glow, Tatsuki suddenly found herself wearing a very sexy and comfortable dress. She would not dare to say it aloud, but she loved the way the dress glittered in a way she was sure no one on Earth could replicate. On the other hand, she had not noticed the side slit and felt distinctly exposed by it despite wearing far less during her workouts at home.

"You look, magnificent darling. Do you like the hair?"

Startled by the question Tatsuki turned to the mirror on the left door of the wardrobe and was quite surprised to find her normally spiky and wild hair was styled into a layered pixie cut. She brushed her fingers against the side of her head where her hair was nearly nonexistent.

"Did- did you just cut my hair?"

"Obviously. I think it looks so cute. This style was popular… oh some 500 years ago in Dorralei. It actually stayed popular for nearly a century and I think you'll look fantastic with it."

Tatsuki was torn. Even being as fashion ambivalent as she was she did enjoy her previous hairstyle for its simplicity and the fact it never got in the way of a fight. This one would not get in the way either, but still…

"Can you grow my hair back?"

"Of course not silly! What do I look like to you? A witch?"

Tatsuki fixed Soliania with a glare before remembering the elf was blind and that it was pointless.

"Ugh, fine. Are we done here? I want to get this over with."

Soliania smiled brightly. "Well then, come along. I believe the envoy is at the eastern gate."

It was a short walk to the large and imposing gate. On the way, Tatsuki was able to greet some of the rescued ogresses and see the construction being done on the northern gate which Ichigo had blown to kingdom come. The entire time Soliania instructed Tatsuki on what was expected of her and the basics of royal manners.

"-but ultimately the choice is yours. Don't make any enemies you don't need to, but if you don't like the envoy send them away and be done with it. Just remember that this affects everyone in the castle."

"Oh, wow, thanks for reassuring me, Soli. So helpful."

"Bah, you'll do just fine. And besides, if it comes to war I doubt any of the neighboring kingdoms have an army strong enough to put you or Ichigo down. Deep breath Tatsuki. It's showtime."

The eastern gate was a lot smaller than the northern gate had been. Rather than sixty the eastern gate it was a measly twenty feet tall. Luckily, this meant the gate went down much quicker than the northern one would… if it existed. Tatsuki was intrigued by the sight revealed to her upon the completion of the gate's opening.

It was a group of five. All male, all dark-skinned. Tatsuki knew she should not have been surprised by the existence of people she would call African on Earth, but it was still a bit odd for them to suddenly appear. Though she quickly got over that fact when she took in their mounts.

Tatsuki was not sure how to describe them. They were certainly similar to lions as she knew them, but they had six legs instead of four and their fur was a dark blue instead of golden yellow. They had no manes which either meant they were female or their race simply did not have any, Tatsuki could not know. They had three long tails each which ended in a brutal mace-like appendage that looked natural. Their eyes also shone an intimidating yellow, that couple with the fact that they were as tall as the unicorns had been and these animals made for an intimidating sight! One of the lion-things yawned and Tatsuki gained the unfortunate knowledge that the creatures had multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth.

The riders wore looked to be traditional European knight armor, but it had the telltale look of bone. Each rider wielded an absolutely massive spear made, once again, of bone and were accompanied by a large flag on their backs. The flag was bright pink in color and was dotted with a few black stars separated into quadrants by thick blue lines. A shake of one of the rider's head revealed long dreadlocked interwoven with glowing blue strands of ribbon. A quick look revealed that the rider in the middle was the only one with red strands and their glow was distinctly brighter.

The said rider then yelled, "Hail rulers of Felmere Fortress!"

"Hail, member of the Stokjo Kingdom."

Tatsuki almost stuttered following Soliania's "Hail" with one of her own.

The rider with red hair ribbons dismounted and made his way to the girls while removing his helm. Tatsuki saw that he was a handsome man with a wide nose, high cheekbones, and a short and scruffy beard. He looked like a completely normal human being until he was within ten feet of herself.

Tatsuki rapidly blinked in order to assure herself what she was seeing was true. The man had several short horns poking out beneath his thick dreadlocks, but that was not all. His eyes were pitch black, a complete and utter void. If it weren't for his eyelids Tatsuki would think he had no eyes at all!

"My name is Jefhuuc and I am glad you have received our envoy. It has been a long time since Felmere had fallen into the hands of that beast Krulp. My Queen sends me with the wish to reestablish the old trade routes that ran through here."

"Of course, of course. We still have the merchant's quarters and we welcome any caravans into our home. Though, we are currently in a rebuilding phase so we do not have much to offer in terms of trade…"

"That is not a concern. The routes themselves are more important than any amount of goods. What had been a three week trip to Glorand through Evindal and Marlev will now be cut down to a single week. The merchant guild will have a field day."

"I'm glad, but the final decision is up to my lady. What will it be Tatsuki? Should we open the merchant's quarters to Stokjo traders?"

Jefhuuc startled a bit at the revelation that the elf in front of him was not in charge, but he was a diplomat and quickly turned to address Tatsuki with a deep bow.

"My apologies fair lady. May I have your name?"

"My name is Tatsuki Arisawa, but you may address me as Lady Arisawa." The teen was surprised by the thrill of excitement that ran up her spine after saying such a ridiculous statement. "The lord of this fortress is Ichigo Kurosaki. I find your terms more than amenable. Please tell your queen that I am most excited about seeing what future ventures we can achieve together."

"Of course Lady Are-we-sawa. Forgive me, I have never heard a name like yours before. We shall depart post-haste and you once again have our thanks."

With that said Jefhuuc put his helmet back on, mounted his lion-beast-thing, made a sharp cry, and led the group away from the fortress.

Tatsuki almost immediately sighed in relief, that had been… odd.

"Notice anything about them Tatsuki?"

"Err…" Tatsuki racked her brain until she remembered one of the most basic aspects of the Game. "They weren't very high leveled. The envoy was 100, but the guards were in the 80s. And their titles reflected their roles and not anything revealing."

"Exactly. I am just reminding you that if things go south, it will not be that difficult to put them down."

"You see awfully war hungry Soliania…"

"To be quite honest I'm just curious about combat and leveling up with this Game. So make sure you don't forget about me when you go on your next dungeon crawl and I will be fine."

"I don't think I'll be forgetting any time soon…"

Soliania simply laughed in response before saying, "Well, I knew you have it in you. With the Conquest System in place know that one day I'll turn you into a fine monarch, just you wait."

"Ugh. That whole exchange was weird. It was just like playing pretend when I was a little kid."

"In a way, all of this comes down to simply acting in a certain way with a certain mindset. For some, it actually helps to think of it as pretend. Eventually, you get so used to it that it's no longer playing pretend."

"Hmm, I see that. So, while I'm here do you think you can tutor me in Eldarin and Ogre?"

Soliania clapped her hands happily. "Of course I can. It's so exciting to teach like this again. Let us retire to the bedroom so no one interrupts us."

~GB~

Friday marked a week since Ichigo had disappeared into Hueco Mundo and Tatsuki was growing restless. She had been doing her best to distract herself from the distinct lack of Ichigo in her life, but no amount of sleepovers with Orihime, training with Yoruichi, tutoring with Soliania, or violently eating Hollows seemed to work.

This was also coupled by a painful increase of loneliness.

Yoruichi had become something more than an acquaintance, but Tatsuki did not know if she counted as a friend. They could not even get close by being a part of the Game because of their absurd level disparity. No amount of grinding real world hollows was getting Yoruichi a level and they most likely would not be able to do anything until Ichigo came back. So once again her thoughts return to Ichigo. Learning new things like Hakuda was fun, but she hadn't gotten a level for her Hollow form and it didn't seem like it was coming any time soon.

When Rutoshi came around things were a bit different, but RUtoshi was far more prone to lazing about with Karin and Yuzu than training.

Eating Hollows became real boring, real quick.

She even went to the gym once, but once again it felt hollow being there without Ichigo.

Her only source of genuine fun was with Orihime, but even that was marred by the fact that she was keeping this huge secret from the redhead. And the worst part was that said redhead knew and was not complaining about. It tore Tatsuki up, so Friday night, decked out in fluffy pajamas and hugging a distinctly Ichigo looking body pillow Orihime "happened" to have, Tatsuki decided to her tell about the Game.

"'Hime?"

"Hn?" was all Orihime did as she was too engrossed in a cheesy comedy show to give Tatsuki her full attention.

"'Member that secret I wasn't telling you?"

Orihime jerked her head and locked eyes with Tatsuki. "…Yes."

"I'm gonna tell you~" Tatsuki began to tease.

Orihime was practically bouncing on the couch at that point and Tatsuki had to resist the urge to facepalm as the ditzy redhead's tits began bouncing around like bouncy balls. "Yes!"

"Oh, but I don't know~ You might not believe me…" Tatsuki trailed off as she made sad eyes at Orihime.

"Nooooooo! I'll believe you! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please tell me!" Orihime begged.

"If you insist~ Ichigo's life became a videogame and he brought me in on it and now I'm half soul-eating monster."

Orihime's eyes grew bigger and bigger to the point that Tatsuki was worried her eyeballs her going to pop out of their sockets. The busty sixteen-year-old eyebrows also rose and rose until they threatened to escape her forehead. Orihime's eyes saw nothing as they stared at her best friend.

Tatsuki realized that she was witnessing the face of someone so disturbed and surprised by what they had been told that their brain threatened to stop functioning.

"Uhh… Earth to Orihime? Are you there 'Hime-chan?" Tatsuki asked as she waved her hand in front of her friend's face.

Orihime blinked and jerked away from the hand. "Of course I'm here. But… what? How- What?"

"Well, it's probably for the best that I just show you since that's what Ichigo did for me. Game. Invite: Orihime Inoue."

 **Such a request must first be confirmed with the Prime Gamer. Please standby as the message is sent.**

 **Your request has been approved by the Prime Gamer.**

 **Orihime Inoue has now been sent an invitation.**

"What on did you just say?" Orihime began, but suddenly jerked back again, this time from the blue screen that suddenly appeared in front of her.

 **You have been invited to join Ichigo Kurosaki's party. Do you accept?**

 **[Y/N]**

"Ah- What?"

"Just hit the 'Y' to say yes. As I said, it's easier to show you everything."

"O-Okay." Orihime answered before shakily doing as she was told. She waited but nothing seemed to happen.

"'Hime, look above my head." Tatsuki instructed while pointing.

"Huh?" The poor girl was so lost, but then she saw it.

Floating above Tatsuki's head was something she had never seen before.

 **Karate Queen**

 **Tatsuki Arisawa Lvl. 100**

"Uhh…" was all the girl could say.

Tatsuki chuckled. "It's wild, I know."

"B-but what does it mean? You know I don't play video games Tatsuki!"

Tatsuki slapped her forehead. 'Kami damn all.' "Okay, you see my name. The thing next to that is short for level, so, I am level 100. Above that in the brackets is my title. It's… a title. Like Lord or Lady. Makes sense?"

"I think?" Orihime quickly looked up in order to see her own information and was disappointed to find nothing.

Tatsuki laughed hard at Orihime's actions. "The title thing stays locked above your head, so think of it as a beanie. You can't see it when you're wearing it."

"So how do I see it?"

"That's the best part, this game is voice controlled. Just say stats and it'll come up."

"Okay, Stats."

 **Title: School Idol**

 **Name: Orihime Inoue**

 **Race: Human**

 **Level: 7**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **RK: 220/220**

 **Stats**

 **Str:6**

 **Vit: 10**

 **Dex: 7**

 **Int: 7**

 **Wis: 1**

 **Luck: 0**

 **Charm: 5**

 **XP: 250/1,000**

Orihime looked back and forth between herself and Tatsuki repeatedly before Tatsuki said, "Don't feel bad. You level up quickly in this game. You won't be seven for long."

Orihime pouted. "Fine, but what does all this mean?"

Tatsuki simply smiled and settled in for a long talk.

~GB~

 **AN: I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! I said I was going to update this consistently with Might and Magic, but then I changed my mind. For the better, I think. My goal was to write for one story until I get bored and then write for the other so that I don't split my interest which burned me out fast, but I did not get bored of Might and Magic and life, work, school, and new video games like Sekiro caught up to me and I have not even updated Might and Magic in what, two months? So I'm sorry. I hope you enjoy this chapter and it leads me into my next point.**

 **I'm thinking of starting a . I don't make a lot of money as is and I LOVE writing fanfiction. It's something that will undoubtedly be a hobby of mine until the day I die. But I get easily distracted, the biggest detriment to writing new shit was videogames and I feel so shitty saying that. So a felt like a good way to make myself accountable. To promise readers that I will put out a chapter every single week. And if this is something people can actually support me on it would be very easy to quit my job. As I said, I don't make a lot of money and I'm sort of accident-prone which results in me not being able to work for days or weeks; if I can make some real money using I can support my parents in ways I did not before which is so huge for me you could never understand how much that would mean for me.**

 **Obviously, I can't make anyone do anything, I don't want anyone to feel obligated to do anything, I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of my readers were teens without jobs and I understand that. I was one of those too not so long ago. And I know that I'm not that great of a writer, but if you can donate, just think about it. If enough people are genuinely interested please PM me or tell me in a review so I can set it up properly. I already have various tier rewards and the money will also go towards hiring artists to make story covers and other extraneous expenses.**

 **Anyway, back to story thoughts.**

 **Big Oof. You Bleach lore librarians out there will notice that Tatsuki's and Orihime's backstory does not match up. That's because Orihime and Tatsuki met when they were 13 only two years before Ichigo comes into the picture. So I'm changing it for the sake of emotional resonance and I like it more. It's easy to say you're childhood friends with someone you met when you were 13 if you're a full-grown adult over the age of 25-ish. But just two years? Maybe I'm just thinking about it wrong, but I wouldn't call someone I met in middle school a childhood friend if I'm only 15, 16 in this story now. So here we are, Orihime and Tatsuki are now ACTUALLY childhood friends.**

 **Also, let's just talk about how insane it is that we're just supposed to accept that Orihime made it on her own for an entire years after her older brother/guardian ate it. 12-13 are clearly an acceptable age for a severely traumatized child to live on her own with no supervision. If this wasn't anime Orihime would not be a manic pixie dream girl, most likely she'd be a hate-filled goth… or dead. What would a 12-year-old do? Go to her parents first most likely only to be disappointed in them for being disgusting human beings. Her other relatives clearly don't care enough to take her in. For an entire year, she's alone in the world for no one to love her. Without anyone to tell her why a child will begin to think it's their fault, and on top of that, she's bullied at school? Very quickly we're back to angry goth or dead by suicide. Dark stuff. I'm glad I write this stuff out, I wouldn't have half of Orihime's dialogue without it.**

 **Maybe it was super obvious and I'm just dumb, but the way Orihime acts has to be a coping method she uses to bury her trauma. That's why she's so weird. If she can distract herself all day and night with every single random thought that flits across her mind she never has to think about her past. But then again she does regularly pray to Sora, so maybe Orihime is just Naruto.**

 **I'm going ahead with the "age them up a year" plan. It's not a big deal, but I'll eventually go back and edit the previous chapters to correct the ages.**

 **Uhm… I think that's it, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and consider my pathetic groveling. Please leave a review because what you think matters to me.**


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